farewell song

by horace p sternwall

illustrated by palomine studios

in the depths of heaven the ocean roars shed a tear, shed a tear for the circus is no more * the sun sets over the highway the last track drives away the clowns watch the trucks disappear and head off to begin their new lives as panhandlers and fitness gurus and hedge fund managers all except one, chunky, the oldest of them all who is determined to find the last pie baked by the last widow on the last windowsill and hit donald trump or vladimir putin in the face with it the big tent has been cut up to make napkins at burger king the bareback dancers pack their bags and they too hit the road back to philadelphia and cleveland to get jobs as life managers and creative consultants the ringmaster and the magician make plans to start a maoist alternative to breitbart the magician’s apprentice goes back to a trailer park outside elko nevada to take care of her 12 younger siblings moe, the cook, lies down by the side of the road and cries manny and mac and mose, the roustabouts, enroll in management courses at the university of phoenix the elephants go back to africa the lions go back to mars the horses run away over the playgrounds filled with needles the lion trainer and al the acrobat hatch a scheme so complicated it can not be described here. suffice to say they will not settle for a few lousy billions ed the elephant keeper buys two bottles of wine and a chicken salad grinder, toasted, with cheese, and starts hitchhiking to the northwest territories alice the acrobat stuffs the trapeze into her bag, with plans to call it a work of art and get at least 15 million dollars for it they all make plans to meet again for a reunion at the arby’s roast beef outside las cruces new mexico in 2047