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When the Circus Comes


by Darryl Price


La La La La. Oh. Are you there? Well, let's get started. 
This is no hitching a slow ride. This is no 
more silent wishing. You're making this up as you 
go. I know they want you to believe everything 
fascinating and impossible is on the 
outside of your life. They've always been liars. It's 
became a way of life for them like all other 
forms of bullying violence. They want you to 
be afraid of love. The thing you could do to stop 
them in their tracks is to quit believing you don't 
matter. Here, let's make a little poetry to 
go with our sweet touching of hands. This thing you could 

do is signify bravery by lifting you 
up at every chance you get. You could say it's your 
sacred duty to think for yourself when you've been 
handed kitchen scissors and told to run. But why 
not be the one who opens doors? You could say you 
want more, even if nothing lasts forever. You 
could make a real serious, wonderful plan to 
escape their boring, mind-numbing speeches. You could
live forever by being here now. They want you 
to be afraid of tenderness. Don't wait. Do it 
while you're still alive. They're behind all death. You could
fling yourself about because you insist on joy.

Tell them you can't be bought. They've always been afraid 
of dancing. They want you to be afraid of making 
a noise. What do you want to see in the mirror? 
You could use your whole life as a restorative 
resource of wellness and freedom. They want you to 
be tied to the railroad tracks of time and space. You
could go on without them. You could skip a dream or 
maybe two over the ocean. You could hope for
better words to express how you feel. You could not 
give up your soul for anything or anyone. 
They want you to be afraid of sorrow. You could
be happy to be a friend to truth and beauty.   
    
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