You would think
i’d be there after all of these years
wherever there is
i haven’t found it and i’m tired of looking
dead tired
I’ve looked for the end
of the crazy parade and thought
if there’s a big, beautiful finale
then everyone will appreciate
the freakish spectacle of it all
the crowd gawps and gasps
at the ones with misshapen and missing body parts
the girl with an in-home slaughterhouse
where her labia and vulva and vagina should be
the woman who’s wearing the massive skirt
that hides dozens of starving children underneath
the one crossing back forth in front of the gaping crowds
oh, she’s on stilts and she’s breathtaking
she bends down close so that they can all see
how pretty she is
but her mouth is sewn shut
and they gasp and look away
the fantastically fat matron
who’s naked but her fat covers everything
so it doesn’t matter
she’s pushing an ornate pram
fit for a princess
whoever is in there is clearly the star of the show
everyone can tell by how the other entrants treat her
with deference and awe
the matron will lift up the curtain and pull back the canopy
for you
her meaty face beaming with pride
for you to see her perfect pink baby
who has neither arms nor legs nor eyes
she is only holes
dead holes
I see the crowd squirming
see they’re not entertained
so I do my juggling and cards tricks and tell bawdy jokes in a jocular voice
I thought we’d be close to the end soon
where’s that damn calliope
and the ladies riding sidesaddle on horses with braided manes and tails
prancing and trotting
where are they
and where are the other clowns
I know I can’t be the only one
I simply can’t
is that music I hear in the distance
or just a trick of my mind
my tricksy mind
I’m so tired of walking
this is a very long route
Maybe the world’s strongest man will carry me for a bit
he’s naked too
his skin is red as blood and he makes everyone scream
and then titter nervously
the crowd is losing interest
thinning out and moving off
the red man piggybacks me for a while
He hasn’t seen the other clowns either
and he doesn’t hear any music
I would think I could hear it by now
smell the popcorn and the horseshit
Maybe a couple of blocks over
and it’s just the wind whipping it away in another direction
I jump off the red man and smack a smile on my face
The show must go on, after all