Bamboo Shoot: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

The contortionist’s
bewitching smile says clearly
Don’t try this at home

the handstand expert
spotlit – his shadow falling
from the balcony

useless, my muscles
move – as if to join in with
the trapeze artists

performance over,
we watch the clowns and grotesques
revealing themselves
as young and smiling faces . . .
if only we could do that

by Bamboo Shoot
Salisbury, Wiltshire, England