At the circus - Shakespeare's Monkeys

at the circus

my sister looked me
straight in the eye
and asked
how the elephants
got themselves in such a fix.

I watched
their soundless maneuvers
for a moment
and turned to explain.

she touched my lips
before a word
escaped.

overhead,
a man was bending
to the audience
on a long wand of steel.

Pags -
Very haiku-like, and powerful for it. I like this very much indeed.

Norm -
Thank you.

Alcuin of York -

"Long wand of steel"?? I guess I haven't been to a circus in quite a while. I don't know the referent.

As for the elephants: Perhaps we are leading ourselves to the same 'fix'.

Although I did not understand the end, I liked the strong imagery and the economy of the exposition. A vignette of a story is given quickly, and seems effortless.

Alcuin

Norm -
This occurred a long time ago, when I was a child. There was an act in which an unsecured man swayed back and forth on a very high, thin, steel pole until he had it bending down to within about twenty feet of the audience. He hung on with his bare hands, and it was quite thrilling to my young eyes. I had seen it on TV several times, but seeing it in person took my breath away. We're probably talking aroung 1954 or '55. It weas a real three-ring circus, so the elephants were performing at the same time. I can remember it as though it was yesterday.