Circus

There have been so many eras

        So many wars fought in brown

There have been so many eras

        So many quick winds of winter

There have been so many eras

        But here, tonight, a party like no other

                But here, tonight, a party like no other

From the highest beams of the circus tent

        Hangs a single trapeze

So high that one can hardly see

Hands hang upside down

        Below the soiled cotton canopy, he swings—

        Yuyaaaaan yuyooooon, yuya yuyon

Nearby, white lights

        Exhale cheap ribbon

The spectators are all sardines,

        Oyster shell Adam’s apples rattle—

        Yuyaaaaan yuyooooon, yuya yuyon

                It is pitch-black outside, the darkest darkness,

                The night deepens with each passing moment

                Descending with a parachutist’s wistfulness—

                Baaaaack and fooooorth, back and forth

                Yuyaaaaan yuyooooon, yuya yuyon