CCLXXVI - Behind the Mask

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The structure of this poem is a Rondeau

I started writing this about clowns, this morning,

before I heard of Whitney Houston's death.

Seems fitting.

Behind the mask.

Behind the mask and orange hair

Behind the shoes and public flair

Behind the bright and gaudy clothes

The clown has feelings few can know.

In fact they seldom even care,

That’s not the reason why they’re there:

They came to point and laugh and stare.

They have no interest in his woes,

Behind the mask.

We are all clowns at a local fair,

Performing in a sideshow where

Others watch but are never close

Enough to sense we’re taking blows;

Few even ask what’s happening there,

Behind the mask.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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