Carnival

the damnation
carnival . . . 
rope slackens
clowns fall
break balloons
echos reverberate
trapped people
mute screams - 
trapeze falls
no net 
no nothing
red splotch
soon brown
soon gone -
pitch another tent
another spike
driven in
loosens -

lion-trainer
misinformed
black cloak settles - 
another missing spike -
elephants
tumble off
walls in
to stands
red stains
soon brown
and gone again -
what remains
shattered spikes
unfilled holes
another fading mark - 
sword-swallower's
crooked necked
apendectemy
red pool
come another fool -

flame eater belched
lost his mind
flesh stains no-
longer real -
martyr muscleman
maimed mutant
faulty barbell
real
fell
splintered bones
broken spikes
lost splotch
empty hole
never fills
season's close -
another soon to come

~ james rich
hollywood california, 1960s