PonderEthereal

There were monkeys and clowns and the flying trapeze. All were elaborately announced by the man with the big shiny smile. Look at me, not the actors in the wings, his teeth cried out between his words.

“Is it done yet, momma?” Ethan whispered to me.

There were motorcycles, juggling, contortionists. There were lions and magic tricks, rabbits from hats. An extravagant, somewhat tainted reality marched by on the wave of organ music piped out of pumping tubes, panting it’s broken laughter into the night.

“Not quiet yet. We must wait for all of the clowns to be done.” I picked his hand up between mine and we watched in silence.

There were gymnasts and fire eaters and tamed Tigers. There were hula hoops and throwing knives and freaks of nature. The man with the big shiny smile gestured elaborately at the shadow of things which might be magnificent if you took his word for it.

And finally, it all simply spun away with it’s maniacal organ and big shiny teeth, carried in the trunk of an elephant and we sat quietly watching it pass.