This piece took me over 6 months to complete. Please comment and let me know what you think this poem is about. What is the message?
The big-top reaches to the skyThe concession stands are all in their placesAwaiting the arrival of the crowdsYou can see the smiles on the young people’s facesCome one, come all, step right upThe show is about to beginInside the tent where the magic happensWon’t you step right inThere’s so much to see and doThis place will overload your sensesYou think you know what you’re about to experienceBut we’ll smash all of your pretensesIf there is one thing which you must knowA lesson to take with you when you goA day at the Middletown CircusWill change you more than you could ever knowThe Ringmaster’s daughter Can make you hard when she looks at you that wayShe’s not just another pretty faceShe’s going to run this whole place somedayThere’s a reason that she never goes outAnd turns down every invitationShe’s back in her trailerLaying out her plan for world dominationBut when she does dole out her love like breadcrumbsYou’ll want to be the first one thereWhen you find out that you’ve been usedYou won’t even damn well careAnd after the sun disappears from sightWhen the Ringmaster’s daughter turns out her lightThat’s when you know the Middletown CircusHas gone to sleep for the night
A patron asks the one-armed dwarfHey man, don’t you ever feel degraded?He says I get to travel the world and do as I please I feel like I’ve damn well made itNobody tells me how to dress, how to act, what to think or what to sayThe patron scratched his chin and said, I never thought of it that wayWith that the next contestantPicks our man up by his collarThe dwarf gives a wry smile and saysOh well, another day, another dollarSo the next time you presume, to assumeThat you need to defend someone elseIt might be a good idea to find outIf they really want or need your helpThen the one-armed dwarf is done for the dayAnd then he’ll be on his wayHe’ll be the first to tell you that the Middletown CircusIs the reason he’s still alive today
Oh, the bearded-ladyShe is tied to the tightrope walkerThey’ve been an item ever sinceHe rescued her from her ex-boyfriend stalkerFinding time alone together at the circusCan prove to be some kind of a hassleIt’s well-known that they will slip awayTo make love inside the haunted castleWhen they walk together arm in arm in publicThey are subject to the usual staresThe snickers and the unkind wordsBut it doesn’t matter, they just don’t careAnd when they kiss underneath the starsTheir smiles camouflage all their scarsThey know their friends at the Middletown CircusLove them for exactly who they are
Cassandra the concession stand girlShe sells cotton candy for a dimeI bet you didn’t know that sheIs writing a novel in her spare timeHer mind is filled with thoughts and dreamsThey take her to a million different placesShe can be whatever she wants to beShe can wear a million different facesWhen it’s time to go back to workShe works damn hard for her meager payBut she is nobody’s fool and she is saving it all for a rainy dayAnd then one day just before dawnCassandra and her dreams will be gone She’ll walk away from the Middletown CircusFor she knows that the show must go on
The boy in the ticket boothStares at you with his steely blue eyesHe smiles politely butYou’re everything he has grown to despiseHe’s a vagabond, you’re an automatonHe’s freer than you ever will beIf you don’t believe it just ask himHe’ll gladly tell you, don’t take it from meHis nickname is the gypsyHe travels from town to townHe came, he saw, he conqueredHe never wants to hang around Although the four walls might constrainHis body, they can’t imprison his brainWhen the tickets have all been soldThe gypsy will move on again
So why am I telling storiesAbout people, you will never ever meet?Well the moral of the story isNever stop fighting, never admit defeatLove who you want to love andDon’t give up on your dreamsDon’t judge a book by its cover ‘causeNothing is ever as it seemsThe ones that linger quietlyMight one day emerge with a roarScreaming until their throat is rawYou shall underestimate me no moreAnd when the caravan pulls awayFrom the local fairgrounds todayYou’ll know the stars of the Middletown CircusHave something worthwhile to say
Photo by sergio souza from Pexels
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Scott Gardiner (Scotty Gee) has self-published two books of poetry and runs an Internet radio station called Scotty Gee Radio