oh what a circus, oh what a show

My life has been a circus as of late. My mind and my heart are topsy-turvy. It seems as if my whole being has become a carnival. Three rings, contortionists, clowns, and so on... All of it.

A delicate composure is maintained as the elephants perform their stunts, the dancing bears wait in the wings, and the tamer prays for the grace of another day as he checks the backside of a massive feline's canines. Anything could grow dramatically wrong at any time turning delight into horror. The trapeze artists anxiously act out their aerial acrobatics while the high-wire ballet of balance begins- beneath there's only the bottom of the big top. Lungs remain full as the audience looks on aghast, waiting for failure, but never admitting to it. On a trampoline elsewhere an exhibition of bouncing bodies are twisted and flung around with seemingly the greatest ease. Each performer looks flawless. They must look flawless.

At center-stage feats of strength are displayed for all to see while in the next ring over a man is lowered into the deep, dark tunnel of despair and is helplessly thrust through the air with only a hope and a prayer. The juggler performs perfectly and sets the stage for the fantastic feats of the flame-eater... then the sword-swallower. People point, and laugh, and applaud. They watch wide-eyed and mystified as the procession of performers wow them. Cue the plate spinner who does all he can to keep everything up, but botches the act as one piece falls, and then another. Perhaps he's better suited for the sideshow with the other failures and freaks. The ringmaster, dressed to the nines in his top hat and tails, soaks up the limelight and the applause while doing nothing to deserve any of it. He runs his mouth and diverts the fickle audience's attention from the failure taking place before their eyes.

The lights are turned out, the audience ushered away, and the curtain falls at the end of the night. A hush falls over the grounds. Artists lie awake in the deafening silence of loneliness until the sun breaks through to declare the dawning day. Sunrise-to-sunset, time marches on- the pageantry is perpetuated with only the hollowest of fanfare.