My Circus Ticket

          MY CIRCUS TICKET

          As a little boy I was a terrible mess,
          fussing and fretting away;
          Unable to bask in the strangeness of things,
          a problem I have to this day.

          I must have been seven or eight at the time,
          difficult years, it's true.
          I went to the circus during those years,
          a story I'll share with you.

          The elephants came with silk tassels;
          Horses were prancing so proud.
          Poodles were walking on beach balls,
          and clowns played around with the crowd.

          Midgets rode off in their little cars,
          and popcorn scented the air.
          The light made everything brighter;
          Candy was everywhere.

          While none of these oddities scared me much,
          at least none that I would admit.
          There was one incredible sight that night,
          one I will never forget.

          When the show was over I stayed in my seat
          and watched for the crowd to shrink down.
          After the crowd got little enough,
          I set out to talk to the clowns.

          No sooner than I got up out of the chair,
          one of them hollered at me,
          "You need to be leaving, you need to go home,
          you're somewhere that you should not be."

          I slipped down closer to ringside.
          You will never guess what I could see.
          All the clowns and circus folks
          were down there laughing with glee.

          They were scooping up handfuls of peanuts
          and dropping them in a machine.
          What a great way to recycle,
          I thought they were trying to clean.

          That's when I noticed the elephants,
          sucking the nuts off the floor.
          They blew them all out into giant size sacks,
          then went back to pick up some more.

          Two of the clowns ran right past me,
          both of them wearing a grin.
          "You better be looking for somewhere to hide,
          our party is about to begin."

          I watched as they moved into two different rings,
          each with a cart full of pies.
          They threw all the pies at each other,
          then came a bigger surprise!

          Two little miniature fire trucks
          rolled in to lead a parade.
          They pulled out the hoses and opened them up
          and sprayed me with pink lemonade.

          Horses threw pies at the poodles.
          Poodles threw pies at the clowns.
          The elephants sucked up some pie in their trunks
          Then nearly blew everyone down.

          Most of them rolled with laughter;
          Some of them laughing to tears.
          Peeking over a chair and holding my side,
          this memory would last me for years!

          The first one to toss up the peanuts
          was one of the flying trapeze.
          They swung upside down, flinging around,
          Then tossed them wherever they pleased.

          A dancing girl pulled out a sling shot.
          A tiger-man threw them in chunks.
          But no single thing was as funny to watch
          as the elephants using their trunks.

          The ringmaster started the peanut machine
          and fired them off one by one.
          Those elephants sucked them right out of the bags,
          firing them off like a gun.

          I jumped on the ground to take cover.
          I could hear peanuts pinging the chairs.
          Everyone shouted with laughter.
          Peanuts flew everywhere!

          And just when I thought it was over,
          This party was nothing but grand!
          I looked up and saw a shadow,
          the ringmaster held out his hand.

          "This party you seen here was private, son.
          You were not supposed to be here.
          But now that you know that we have it,
          your invited to come every year."

          He held in his hand a ticket,
          I took it and let out a cheer!
          It said I could go for the rest of my life,
          I cant wait till I come back next year.

                    By: Rusty Cason 11/16/06