What Clowns Are
by
Richard Reed Jr
copyright 01-11-2008
Age Rating: 7 to 127
An old clown wears
a time-worn sandwich-board advertisement
at the head of a traveling circus
columns of elephants trumpeting their fanfare
rolling calliopes sounding tweets and toots
a clunking rattling racket
out of sync with the present-day
my eyes cover him carefully studiously
I want to know what makes clowns tick
I want to show the face within the face
The make-up gone
dare I present to your vision
a frowning tired-looking wrinkled face
complaining about swollen tired feet
others laughing at his funny shoes
poking fun at his antics
while inside he curses
or
must I show a red and yellow white-faced masquerader
dressed in jigsaw puzzle-like pajamas
vibrant pom-poms fixtured down the front
do you want to see Bozo or Palliacci
I think you want
the one who never grows up
a child forever more
through them we stay young
no matter the day we laugh
when they send in the clowns
No one can imagine that they grow old
anymore than when we were young
we really believed that we could
dry up turn to ashes blow away
the furrow in the cheeks grows deeper
we cry more than we laugh
the difference between us
when a clown dies
what remains is an over sized red sponge nose
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I enjoyed reading the first two comments on this clown event as much as the event (poem) itself. Could be, I am doomed to laugh at my own jokes as somehow...oh no... I can relate to this clown and this isn't so sad. He feels like family to me. Had he stuck around awhile longer...I should tell you, I have boots for him and really loud lipstick my family has asked me not to wear...!
Seriously, nice sad poem about aging. I like the ending best.
Richard, your poetic skills never cease to amaze me. True, we all sometimes wear the mask of the clown to show the world a happy face when all the while it's no more than an act. I like Dale's reference to the "big shoe", after all they are good for putting out fires.
Great write....June
Richard: I've been gone for awhile and now I've read "What Clowns Are" and I am concerned about my poet friend. You like to do that to folks. It is part of your consummate skill with a pen. You missed one thing left behind... those giant shoes. I loved the poem. They really can hide a lot behind that chalky make-up. We do it to. Gotta go. I think I will find Sinatra's great one; "Send In The Clowns" . Dale
I think you have done a good job describing how a clown goes through the changes of life,like we all do, until some thing changes and they lose their innocents, self worth and maybe even pride,cause, or drive to go on.
He or She is then reduced back to his human self, a clown is in disguise from the world normally and hardly ever supposed to show their true human self so with doing that has cut them selves off from normal lives and that is what causes the clown to die...Inside!
Interesting subject matter and a few little things here and there, I would come back to this and maybe add some more personal reasons why this clown has laughed it's last laugh and moved into solitude and despair!
.....The topic is very different. I've yet to see anyone write about clowns. Nice description though, not my type of subject to talk about.
Some capitalizing is needed here and there.
Thats all I can find at the moment.
This sounds sad. I always think of clowns and fun. A lot of what your saying here is true, but I don't want to think about clowns dying! There is probably a lot more to most clown stories! Good luck, Anthony
Welcome !
