draped moment velvet reveal tips jazz touch back roar filmy strips forgotten
Same twelve words in both acts.
The Circus
Act I
Music: "Entry of the Gladiators" - Fucik
Anticipation!
The smells! The sounds!
The murmur of the crowd.
The tent. Lights, ropes, a trapeze.
All eyes on the velvet-draped entrance.
The music starts, the crowd inhales—holds…
The moment is near.
The curtains pull back
To reveal the ringmaster, top-hat and cane,
The crowd erupts in a roar—
The world outside forgotten.
The grand parade begins:
Jugglers, clowns and acrobats,
Elephants and horses,
Fire-eaters and magicians,
Ladies in filmy outfits
And legs to their armpits
Parade around the ring
To the music. Modern gladiators.
“Let the show begin!”
And begin it does. Act after act,
Cheer after cheer, entranced children.
And then, after the normal jazz and pazazz,
After a little more than a touch of showmanship,
The show is over.
The crowd leaves.
The lights go off.
◊
Act II
Music: "Heureuse" - Edith Piaf
A moment to reflect.
Too many moments
to lie and reflect.
No velvet here,
Just strips of filmy curtain.
Pull them back to reveal
A small, drab caravan.
Ornaments serve as a touch
Of a home, largely forgotten.
Exhausted,
she is draped on a narrow bed,
Her back aching,
Her hands still chalky,
The trapeze forgotten.
Too tired to wash.
The adrenaline—gone,
The roar of the crowd—gone.
On a small battery radio
Melancholy jazz plays.
Alone and tired,
She tips into sleep.
◊
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