From that moment the mouthy man in the middle,
top hat in hand, barks and waves our three floodlit rings
into motion with a flourish of brassy blasts,
the big top gets turvy and my stomach's all nerves
making the bushel of peanuts I just munched feel
like broken glass chewed by my friend the tattooed geek.
Martha says, Elephants are supposed to be more
dignified... don't mope! It is hard to grasp for her
tail day after daisy-chained day when I'm holding
this bouquet of forget-me-not rubber-banded
by a grudge. I tell her, The real indignity's
being dressed in a rhinestone-studded satin cape.
This poem was written in response to the new site Big Tent Poetry's Prompt #1. Keeping with the Big Tent theme, we were supposed to write a persona poem based on the circus. I'm a sucker for misfits and animals.
16 comments:
Barbar the elephant likes dressing up.The problem with elephants is you can't cuddle them.
Indeed, rhinestones look better on cowboys. :)
You did a nice job of expressing the indignity of performing for human pleasure while keeping it light-hearted. I really like this poem. Thanks for sharing it.
day after daisy-chained day
:D
I always feel so sorry for performing elephants...they seem so embarrassed to be there. You captured this very well in your poem.
Hard to think of an elephant having nerves, Francis! Love all the alliteration in the first stanza and that 'bunch of forget-me-knot rubber-banded by a grudge'!
Oops! 'forget-me-not'. It was Jumbo's stomach that was knotted!
(I'm so glad modern circuses eschew using animals. Any of them, but especially elephants.)
Terrific persona poem. I like your language choices and alliteration, in particular.
Thanks for joining us under the Big Tent.
Those poor elephants. You certainly capture the mood quite well with this Francis.
Pamela
Great POV and perspective here, Francis. By placing the indignation in the mouth of an elephant, you elegantly give voice to all the "little" people who undergo indignities every day in the less glamorous workplaces of the world.
Love the bouquet of forget-me-not rubber-banded by a grudge!
so much personality in this! "mouthy man" and "don't mope" and the embarrassment of rhinestones. :)
thanks for joining the circus! :)
A terrific look at those magnificent beasts - it's light and deep and a fine read.
Terrifically woven words, once again :)
hey... come and just watch how Francis plays with the words in his show... why ever bother poor aminals?
this is great! those hyphenated words were absolutely awesome!
i can imagine them
stepping
through
slowly
@Rall Babar was a special case, and he had a sense of style. When their still small, you might have a fighting chance... after that you need big arms.
@bwarren Thanks for the comment. I prefer circuses without the animal acts.
@Susan Thanks :)
@Cynthia I guess it's better than being shot at by poachers, but I'd still rather have them roaming free.
@Derrick Elephants have a very refined sensibility, at least in my head... which is where this one derived.
@Deb Thanks for helping to put Big Tent up for us.
@Pamela The good news is that no elephants were actually harmed in the making of this poem ;)
@Paul There's a bit of elephant in all of us.
@Carolee Thanks for organizing the three rings.
@Tumblewords When it started out, the elephant was only a part of it, but he soon took over the whole poem.
@Scrybe Thanks!
@hb I'm a tamer of the hyphen :D
@Lucy Comments in poetic form are the best.
i am reminded of the last time i went to the circus there was over 15 in a row connected hunched on each other's back... their majestic ways unfolded for me that day contained within that tiny tent i decided then i would never attend another circus...these elephant poems bring back that day so very long ago...
Post a Comment