Day 22 - 2.17.2013

Prompt for: February 17, 2013
Subject or Theme: Life's a Circus (and so is your poem!)
Word(s) to Include: mélange(s)
Forbidden Word(s): acrobat(s), circus, clown(ed/s), cotton candy, death-defying, high-wire, peanut(s), ring(ed/s), ring master, three-ring, trapeze
Additional Parameters: Just for fun, let's make it rhyme ~ end rhyme please. Minimum 16 lines.

….and Children of All Ages!

It’s a balancing act, or didn’t you know?
Growing up or growing older—
Knowing when to do a flip
or see the view from another’s shoulder.

Heed the barker and see the show:
buy your tickets with what you believe.
Are you a tiger or are you the whip?
The magic is threaded through the weave.

Up on stilts, perspective differs;
no safety net adds greater thrill.
Pink elephants on unicycles:
are you the Crackerjack or the Jill?

Mélange of colors balloon in tent,
which dart will pop the biggest prize?
Come to the Greatest Show on Earth:
Where fiction speaks truth and the prophet lies.

Sequined women swing by their hair
as harlequin comics walk on their hands.
How and where you find your answers
depends on which seat you have in the stands.

Sawdust dreams or lemon-aid magic,
the calliope knows which music to play.
Fun house mirrors tell the truth:
and P. T. Barnum points the way.

Late at night, when the seats are empty,
can you still hear the music? See shadows dance?
This is the time to explore the dream:
act quickly now while you have the chance!

For here in the Big Top all answers lie
inside the circles of illusion—
climb in the cannon, shoot the moon:
juggle reality and delusion.