What A Circus

“We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus!
That alone should make us love each other
but it doesn't. We are terrorised and flattened
by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”
- Charles Bukowski


I'm going to die
(thanks for the reminder Charles)
so why have I clowned around
for so long in this ridiculous circus?

I've watched my step. Stared at the ground.
Grown overanxious that my oversized
shoes and loose laces will trip
me up or that I'll slip

on a banana skin. But now I'm
refusing to lie down and be flattened
by a convoy of trivialities
steamrollering over my life.

So no more worrying
about whether trapeze acts, acrobats,
musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope
walkers, jugglers, magicians, unicyclists

are getting more applause than me. No more
being terrorised by the powerful ringmaster
in his bright red tailcoat and towering
top hat. I'll forget all that and cultivate

love. No more envy, no more fear. And,
when the time comes, it's worth noting
that I will put my head in the lion's mouth.
Far better than being eaten up by nothing.