Shaman & Clown: What Elephants Recall

shaman & clown: what elephants recall


& she remembers
the long trains
rolling thru
the night
their
cars
with

iron bars
small cages
skeletal bodies
the consciousness
of lines not to be crossed
children marked by whistled calls
by a longing to run away into darkness

the circus begins with
the stick stuck in
the ground
braided
vines
looped line
& the horses

that could not be tamed—
o master step into
the circle reveal
center ring
the pole
around
which all

animals
parade
shaman pole
& who climbs up
thru the hole of heaven
look! kills the horse & rides
the skin & bones into the fabled

hall seeks out the cause
of the malady of
the damnable
curse that
befalls
each
&

all—the circus is in town &
we all watch—spectators
to the action unfolding
under the tent heaven
pole the tightrope
walker priest
ringmaster

lash & flying
head in the jaws
of lions the beauty
clenching a rope with
her teeth (check its teeth)
spinning high in the air (how
much ecstasy can she

withstand) the chills & thrills
& of course of course
(Henry the Horse is
always topping
the bill: he
is death
the sacrifice

he is Wotan he is
Christ riding an ass
parading into Jerusalem
for the last dance
the finale
a grand
finis)

X
marks
the spot
nail down
the dimensions
bury the secrets
everyone’s a mark

the clowns the clowns
heavy lead footed
bloody cheeks
bloody lips
big shoes
bloody
red

white skin moon bone
a flower that shoots rain—
reverse the order the circle remains—
all aboard for the next train
the smell of death will
disappear with
the crowd

& even old freaks
swat at the flies
as the horses
are fitted to
leather
bridles & bits
in stainless steel


Richard Lance Williams

Posted over on MythoPoetry