Tacenda

The Greatest Show on Earth

You wore that top hat as if you had earned it

That gaudy suit like you had been born in it

And you flung that whip around like you owned the entire world

At first the get up was convincing

Especially to me

I danced with naive joy beneath your puppeteering arms

And willingly waltzed across a tightrope that grew thinner with your every demand

Juggling knives and swallowing fire were nothing compared to the task of earning your praise

Even tigers and lions coward from your disapproval poised and ready to pounce

You had trained me well and I could do it all

A three ring circus performed by a single girl

A girl whose talent shone so brightly it filled the big top with light

Light that you basked in as if it were your own creation

Each night I ignited a spotlight that you promptly stole

Your scamming words took credit for my fantastic feats

I desired just a pinch of the awe and praise that I had earned

But the audience could not see past your slimy smile

Your wore my talent like a golden robe

To hide your own garment sewn with talentless fraud

You pocketed my applause at the end of each night

While backstage my light quivered with exhaustion

You let my fire burn bright

But only for as long as it turned your deception into dollars

Then yet again I would be smothered as the big top deflated each night

Soon I grew tired of the shadow that stifled me

I was sick of twinkling delicately in your suppressive palm

No more watching the smoke from my fire drift weakly off into the darkness

The time had finally come for me to burn my own wildfires into the night sky

I left not even a scorch mark behind when I quit your suffocating big top

Without me, you had nothing to offer your expectant fans

They laughed at your pathetic performance

Impersonating talent for so long had taught you nothing of how to achieve it

It took no time for your top hat to be ripped from your unworthy head

Your ringmaster’s ensemble was soiled with shame

And your whip sagged with forgotten authority

You were left to wander alone through a maze of peanut shells and unpopped corn kernels

Your kingdom collapsed around you

Once a mighty circus tent

Became a wilted, rotting flower petal

Garish clown makeup had caked itself thickly upon your face

No sign of who you once were was visible

For you had become the spectacle of your own stolen show