Let the Poem-Off begin!
Listed below you’ll find the entries for the theme, “Circus Surprise.” The theme could be interpreted in any way by the writers.
Some silliness, some seriousness. All are anonymous until the winner is revealed. We did have a couple of cases of more than one entry per person. I made an executive decision to include each entry. Take a gander, then vote using the poll in the left margin. Voting is open until Friday morning. Later that day we’ll crown a new Iron Poet, winner of the Poem Off.
Thank you to each person who submitted an entry. This has been a lot of fun. Who knows? If you all like it, too, maybe we’ll do it again sometime.
Poem 1
To our dismay
The tightrope gave
And sent its bearer plunging
He fell so long
And fell headlong
His awkward legs were fumbling
And as he fell
He did not yell
He met his fate with laughter
For in the net
A second chance
Was granted—which he’ll flaunter.
Poem 2
young boy
smile as bright as a circus spotlight
lighting, brightening the dimmest rooms
…star of the show
star of the show
wows the crowd…master showman, master of ceremonies–
his song not perfect, yet he remained
star of the show
star of the show
exited on time—His time–but left the crowd wanting more
his light was dimmed too soon for the
star of the show
young boy’s young cousin
watches the crowd, hears the master of this odd ceremony
wonders why the smiles have dimmed, for she knows he’s now with the
Star of the show
Poem 3
A magician fluffed his robe and stepped into the ring
He wanted to see if an elephant could sing
And not just sing, but sing as a bird
And if it could, he’d want it heard.
He flicked his wand and produced a smoke
Once inhaled the elephant choked
But when he choked, he began to howl
And not as a monkey, but as an owl
The magician was troubled and flicked again
This time the creature clucked like a hen.
Not only cluck, but it scratched and pecked
And rooted around for a juicy insect
He rolled up his sleeves and tried anew
This time he shot a jet of blue
When it struck, the elephant growled
And as a lion began to prowl
Despite the scowls from the crowd
He lifted his wand and produced a frown
But once he pointed and produced a light
The elephant took off in a terrible fright.
For it had become the only elephant
That could cluck like a hen,
Howl as an owl,
Prowl as a lion,
Sing like a bird
But the magician wanted to logic defy
Instead he produced a circus surprise.
Poem 4
The circus stopped in the next town
Out went the horses, tightropes, clowns
The people came (and none was fickle)
To see the show and crunch on pickles
The red-striped tent was hot and loud
Applause erupted through the crowd
For elephants, tigers, and trapeze
Up so high none dared to sneeze
Yet when a man roared out a tune
Gasps sucked air from the whole room
For the “opera” singer there this time
Was none other than the mime
Poem 5
The circus was in town,
And we couldn’t wait to go,
We packed up all the family,
And we headed to the show.
But our night was very different,
It turned out really queer,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The lion tamer was nervous,
His lion had been rough,
So he opened up a frosty beer
And started to engulf.
Nobody should ever drink,
(That’s something we all know),
He wandered off without his beer
Distracted by his phone.
This bear had a tricky act,
Where he balanced on a ball,
So the bear and his male trainer,
Headed out for the great hall.
The trainer stopped to talk to Sue,
The cute young acrobat,
He didn’t see the beer can,
That the bear was staring at.
The bear reached out his giant paws
And grabbed it in one swipe,
And just that fast, the beer was gone,
Down his big windpipe.
The rest is really frightening,
But you really need to hear,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The trainer did not notice,
The bear was acting strange;
He gaze was still on Sue,
Who was still in visual range.
The bear began to do his act;
But some began to jeer,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The bear was really tipsy,
He couldn’t stay upright
He slipped right off his little ball,
fell like a concrete kite.
Then things went really crazy,
And lots of things were weird,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The bear liked cotton candy,
And he charged the little cart
He stuck his head down in the treat
Which probably wasn’t smart.
His face was blue and sticky,
And the people ran in fear,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
Now the bear with covered eyes,
Ran around with grea
t abandon,
Not seeing where he’s going,
He got stuck inside the cannon.
We all know what cannons do,
No need to say it here,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The cannon fired loudly,
And through the air he flew,
Like any other bear who flies,
A great big howl he blew.
Inside the tent was chaos,
So loud no one could hear,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
He landed on the tightrope,
A bear who’s scared of heights,
He wrapped his legs around the rope,
It was really quite a sight.
The crowd was really worried,
They really were sincere,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The bear’s paws slipped and down he fell,
He was growling all the way.
Bouncing off the safety net,
That net had saved the day.
And once they saw his safe descent,
The crowd with one voice cheered,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
About the bear, the clowns knew not,
And in the ring they flew,
And one clown started cussing;
when he stepped in the bear poo.
Children all around the ring,
Quickly shut their ears,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
The ringmaster fainted,
And The trainer, he ran off.
“I’ll go and stop that crazy bear!”
yelled David Hasselhoff.
He bravely strode into the ring,
While people gasped in fear,
And all because of that one bear
Who drank a can of beer.
David walked up to the bear,
And bonked him on the head,
The bear just fell and landed hard,
He really did look dead.
The circus was so grateful
On That long and fateful night,
Hasselhoff got lifetime passes,
Since he helped them in their plight.
The bear was really fine;
He was surprisingly okay,
He lived for many years,
Performing all the way.
But there is much for us to learn
About more than hosselhoff,
We need to see that bears get drunk
And can even catch a cough.
Well, this story has a moral
Which is really quite austere:
don’t ever leave your bear alone,
or else he’ll find your beer.
Better yet, don’t ever drink;
you’ll never have to hear,
“Hey, you act just like that bear
Who drank a can of beer.”
mmm…maybe he should be the emcee of our next challenge…