The Day the Circus Came to Town

 

The excitement, it was palpable,
the messages, subliminal–

as the show paraded through the streets.

New in town, as yet unknown.

their voices droned in monotone, 

with subtle words of cunning and deceit.

So they kept the crowd engaged, enrapt by something new

intrigued inside the mystery and mystique.

And then, it seems, as if on cue, 

came the circus grand review

and so our curiosity was piqued. 

The tigers were all snarling locked inside their cages;

while the elephants came lumbering up behind;

then the tarot readers, soothsayers and sages,

diviners of a future they’d define.

Acrobatic wonders, gravity defiers;.

lovely ladies dressed to entertain,

a swallower of (s)words, a juggler of fire—

a dog and pony show, as promised in their flyer,
all smoke and mirrors cloaking their campaign.

Some of them stood up to leave, yet many still remained,

to see the emcee turn into a clown;

his face ever-contorting, expressions alternating–

and so the show continues in this vein,

while he's counting on his tricks to shut them down.

So many have stayed silent, they have not made a sound

reporters all were stifled where they stood;

diminished to profanity while watching the insanity

set in motion by the orange clown—

ever since the circus came to town.

© Ginny Brannan 2026