The “Greatest Show on Earth” Is Coming to a Close
By Sirc de Budalewe
The “Greatest Show on Earth” is coming to a close in May;
financially it could not make it in the USA.
The Ringling Brothers-Barnum-Bailey—names will go away,
Feld Entertainment, circus owner, has announced today.
No longer will the three-ring show its marvelous display,
the flashy costumes, juggling acts, parading in array,
the elephant’s loud blast, the tiger’s growl, the zebra’s neigh,
the horses running round in rings, the popcorn on a tray,
daredevil acrobats beneath the big-top’s giant splay,
the floppy clowns, the monkey mounds, the lions held at bay.
Demand was dying, PETA whining, it had had its day.
With changing tastes, computer games, how could the magic stay?
At the Deploraball
By Brice U. Lawseed
The Trump supporters, showing up for the Deploraball,
were greeted with profanities in accents horrible,
with mace, eggs, screams, with bottles tossed, one man gashed in the head;
but FBI and DC Law knew not of any threat.
This is a peaceful group. We’re not attacking anyone.
We’re here to have a jolly time. O, this is all in fun.
We merely want to beat and protest those who dare to come.
The National Press Club Building oft leaves its entrants numb.
This ball is for the people, by the people, so therefore,
there’s gonna be blood, beatings, and intolerance. Fore! Score!
Marcus Aurelius
By Aedile Cwerbus
Of human life, time’s but a point, its substance, flux each day,
the composition of the body, subject to decay.
The soul’s a whirl, fortune’s hard, and fame’s devoid of sense,
perception’s dull, the mind lacks judgment, human nature’s dense.
In short, all that belonging to the body is a stream;
life is a warfare, strange its sojourn, soul is but a dream.
What, then, can help? One thing, and only one, philosophy,
superior to pain and pleasure, mete integrity,
accepting all that happens, struggle, strain, and certain strife,
without hypocrisy, with equanimity and life.
The dissolution of one’s elements is nature’s thread.
Why should a man have apprehension of his final breadth?
Bruce Dale Wise is a poet living in Washington State who often writes under anagrammatic pseudonyms.
It’s odd to find someone thinking about Marcus Aurelius in the 21st century.
The end of the circus tradition in America hardly elicits a comment.