When the Circus Came

This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for February 2026 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.

https://rattle.com/page/ekphrastic/

When the Circus Came

Stars captured in crystal

Sway from golden chains

As red velvet drapes

Billow in the wind

In one tent of many

An old woman

Clad in colorful silks

Sits at her worn wooden table

Black cat at her feet

Mystic glass ball on clawed pedestal

The air hangs heavy

Sweet with the scent of incense

For a silver coin

She will see your future

While down the way

Spectators cheering for

Sword-swallowers

Fire-breathers

And tigers that jump through gilded rings

A mountain of muscle billed as

“The World’s Strongest Man”

Parades down the makeshift promenade

In nothing but a loincloth

Walking beside the tattooed woman

She be naked

Yet covered

Every curve of her

Voluptuous body

In artistic beauty

Men on stilts weave between

Jugglers and dancers

While acrobats twirl and twist

Minstrels with fiddles

Play for coppers

A haunting melody

Floating over the meadow

A call to all

The curious crowd

To come and see

The circus

Submitted under MRB