poem by freak on the midway & I went to the carnival today

 

June 14, 1971 (I was 26)

 

poem by freak on the midway

 

They come to see me not by plan but by style

and their faces look so sickly

hidden behind a struggled smile

 

Betrayed by Curiosity hurriedly they pass

and I try to show them a soul

with my face pressed against the glass

 

They follow the call of Calliope out the canvas door

and they forget the wasted ticket

lying on the sawdust floor

 

I sit alone again now in my corner of the zoo

and wonder if there is anything more

a freak can hope to do

 

  -written two days later…

 

I went to the carnival today

first time in awhile

I even walked the midway area

and was attracted to a side show

IKON THE INCREDIBLE

An Electrifying Emotional Experience

it said and I paid my money and went in

Pitch dark

and there was a hairy guy

huddled in a glass box staring back at me

and I didn’t know what to do so I left

The sun made me squint

and I felt somewhat hollow

and people were looking at me

like I looked at him.