“Highwire Act”
Wide-eyed shadows
tainted with bloodlust,
whispered and watched us
sail through the void;
whimsical puppets in spotlights
flying from strings above.
Ringmasters and clowns
watched from the ground
amidst pissed bulls on parade
as our ropes cried
furious from financial strain
for that million dollar payday.
Onlookers watched us cast fate
swinging in the breeze —
Douglas Fairbanks stunts
on a dreamcatcher’s trapeze —
above a smiling pavement,
laughing without a safety net.
Life on the highwire,
a torn price-tag for riches,
makes easy deceiving
for blind, concrete believing
there’s nothing to lose in flight
amidst corporate vampires.
Somewhere in mid-air,
watching my ass ‘tween flips and flair,
hardened beyond rational fear
I wondered how I got here —
a page out of a comic book
without a place to land.
Faith, Hope, and Love
kept me goin’
as the Circus continued to spin —
striving to make it home,
only to be there by dawn
when the Big-Top opened again.
– Max Nomad