This blog was created for others who will hopefully glean something from the words I have written.Not much to say except I ran off from an orphanage when I was 13 years old.Hopped on a freight train and joined the circus.Have been wandering ever since.I am grateful to be alive and my only desire is to leave something here for others to gain from.If I can accomplish that then I have successfully reached my intended goal.All we have left in the end is our legacy.
Fourteen elephants working in the mud Harnessed bulls pull the load Up the way goes the big top Sweat and blood spills onto the road The canvas calls like sails on a ship Whipping their tails in the wind The yaw of the rope twists and sings Bare knuckles exposed and skinned The taste of mud and sweat mingles Leaving its essence in my mouth Tackle and wrestling with the canvas So that I might have my way with it Defeating hard winds from the South There is turmoil in the menagerie Ramah my elephant friend I am upon her back once again Her knees buckle into the bend My first time out she took to me Not a day has gone by since then We have seen eye to eye Beyond the understanding of all men I know her cries-she knows my eyes To this canvas what must be done It is a fight against the ropes Never ending until it has been done Dust creeps into our bones My callouses are in likeness to her hide There is this thing between us that lives For in it we live and must abide Words that are spoken that only we know Even more so their real meaning Pull to the right and head off the wind Uprighting the center pole which is leaning Our hearts are never broken while at work Patrons around who gawk as they lurk This tarp like sandpaper chaffs my face It gnaws and teases Ramah so Rope burns us but still remains Our everlasting companion In deep respect we continue to go Forward moving always moving forward Background noises of steaming trains Who are they to judge us They know not of our pains
I walk amongst the lands My shadow follows and abides Long ago I lost my mother In this heart she resides Slowly walking towards the grove Dry grass licking at my shoes A setting sun that barely shimmers Many graves have I dug To pay my daily dues A patch of light invades this space Evading points of no return It offends my eye at times In spite of what I learn Sweetness overcomes the bitter Bitter overcomes the sweet Darkness is welcomed in these times In haste I do retreat To the silence in the boughs of trees Far away from plunder The sky blankets me from harm In my sleep I wonder Where sky and land and water meet There I will be found My shadow lingering behind me What is left of me is homeward bound
Sasha and Nina work in the center Of the three rings under the Big Top Today before work they get their shower While I set up the ring with their prop Later on I'll go down to see them All fourteen of them standing so spry They raise their trunks and wave to me Sometimes I sing them a lullaby From one foot to another they dance to the tune Under the sky as I begin to croon I have a lousy voice and they probably know it But they don't really care They like it when I talk to them like people As long as I'm not elsewhere I stroke their hides and scratch their ears As they look for a pile of dust The tack is out nearby their harness Ready to mount them I trust We still have some time before the show Saturday they must do two One more day in this lonely town Before we will start out anew Another distance we will all travel To another lonely town It's just another place on the map As the sun creeps steadily down Soon there will be the coolness of night Sawdust flies in the breeze I know by their gestures they are ready to go Just like the flying trapeze Another day-another dollar Working close by with my friends This is the life that I dearly love In hopes that this all never ends
The pay for my labor is the working stub To get to see the show Instead of that I take the five dollars Hoping to let it grow Not on the payroll I travel still Working for the stubs Trading them for my five dollar pay Sleeping at night in the empty ride tubs Sometimes the clowns let me run errands Or I end up with the pachyderm's Each day lessons are learned Under harshend terms That's how I cut my teeth on the show I learned to sew the tarps where they would be strong Braiding the ropes in bundles of sixteen From twenty to forty feet long Gently I talked to the harness bulls Their trunks against my face told me clearly I was no mere forty miler primadonna But I was held in their eyes dearly Kindness was shown in unspoken words Gestures that stood fast in my mind First sound of the ropes twisting I knew my journey to find Had finally come to an end
My voice called out many times Always falling upon deaf ears Quaint hints of my feelings Revelations of my greatest fears A world about me moves quickly Not able to keep up the pace Without some sort of assistance It's imperative to drop out of this race In contemplation it makes no sense But then again no one knows How my heart feels-what goes on in my head How the fear inside me grows No longer able to speak about it Nobody gets the hint I am like a shadow in darkness Unable to leave an imprint One last look out the window In hopes I will see some vision That tells me to stay on longer Yet now comes my final decision I fly away,I fly away,slowly-I fly away Floating off to a place I know nothing about I am drifting slowly away from all my pain
As a child talks to dragons Time goes on they fade away Mere mention of those events Appears as the folly of a child Time goes on-Life goes on The dragons still survive In the deepest part of the mind Although concealed and never revealed If searching for them They are not difficult to find Brief liftings of the veil occur Glimpses into what still survives Dragons come in dreams at times A time will come when all revives Destruction of dreams are mere Discouragements to one's own soul What was intended and meant to be Will always return to it's role
Little trips taken to the coast Down by the beaches of sand That's my wife with her little sis Both of them look so grand They think I'm taking my afternoon nap I'm about to give them a suprise I'll jump out in front of them momentarily Not leaving time to surmise After the laughing we'll all take a stroll And have a nice afternoon snack Later will come the setting sun As we start our evening walk back Maybe my wife or her little sis Will pull a prank on me It's always been fun to joke around I'm sure we would all agree Life is good-it's full of hills Up and down we all go It's nice to stop and have some fun To keep from feeling low ~ ~I'm thankful to have good friends who love me~
