I find clowns both menacing and merrymaking.


Clowns

The white-faced one with
The profile of a waxing moon
Is coming towards me with
A downturned nose and an
Upturned mouth, smiling like
My first dentist, come on boy,
Don't be shy, open up and show
Me what you're hiding in there,
I won't hurt you, well just a teeny
Weeny bit perhaps but it's for your
Own good, isn't it, take the mask
And put it over your mouth, inhale
The laughing gas, ha, ha, ha, ha,
You're going under my spell, spell,
Spell, spell............................ spell
'Nitrous Oxide' said my first
Teacher, standing over me like
A red-coated ringmaster, smelling
Of stale tobacco and the last war,
Only joking, my boy, only teasing,
I wouldn't expect you to know that
At your tender age, what are you,
Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
He's coming round now, said the
Dentist to my mother, just for a
Moment I thought, well, you know,
We had lost him, life can be a circus
You know, a circus.............. a circus
Came to town today, put up a big
Top in the middle of the park and
Played music to the light of the moon,
The round-faced clown with Mars at
The end of his nose is coming towards me,
The one with the gingham rags and
The big shiny shoes is sitting down
Next to me, putting his gloved hand on my
Neck and whispering laugh, little boy,
Laugh until all your teeth ache.



Chris Fernie,2009




Poetry by Chris Fernie
Read 376 times
Written on 2009-06-21 at 21:47

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