Sad, it’s closing this year,
a show that’s gone on so long.
But though the elephants
will be put out to pasture in Florida,
as the good Emerson
regretted to remind—
humans will never close
our own dog and pony show, as long
as wheels still roll the tents
and trains whistle up and down the coast.
Not all clowns need make-up;
and some faces are covered with confetti
when Saint Augustine throws his sin
into the clapping hands of spectators.
Colleges that must have great
football teams, and cultures that must
call themselves “the greatest country.”
But humans, not so entertaining,
dutifully maintaining daily routines
in offices, in stadiums—performing
social circus acts. Sad when
one circus closes, but the real show moves
along and will perform—because the show
must go on, as it has for so long
in what the school books call, “History
of the human condition!”
