Poeting & paintry pair, request-gift (concerning clowns and kittens, both or either!) for a donor of my *arts for Aliza’s brain trust project, inspired by Picasso’s “Clown and cup.”
Clown and Cup
A dustbowl has trapped a swallow—
eloped in watermelon cart
with a twister of absinthe.
Soles clacking, wooden clogs on the cat
man-handling a mandola
mauled in the corner.
A funnyman with enough elbow
bones to block out every feather
‘d hat. Grease paint melts on the lovers’
carved bureau-top waits
to initial, hiss Bon Nuit.
Train cars creak less than megalith.
A kitten ransoms a fly on the sill,
post-show bite of flea
under the long table. A lady’s veil
pressed to your exposed belly
button. This haiku belt cannot hold
diamond print after two pumpkin moons.
Why no fairy dens closer
to railroad veins? The circus moves on,
the hangover shows. The troop still
unmoving in greys by dawn
‘s fingerless gloves.
Center stage orgy of applause
-strewn belongings:
chess rook, monocle, shepherd’s crook,
garter, catnip, ribbons, cat gut, drawstring
bloomers, cat calls, snuff box, tea cup,
a fragile crop. Red kitten buries
something winged in sawdust—
a clown comes running in, noseless.
Small swallow, dustbowl upper lip.
