Days after we had travelled east of Eden
we invented clowning and slapstick,
juggling and tumbling, magic and music,
and idleness to ease our banishment
from Paradise. So, for ninety minutes,
in this rare and aerial space of changelings
and kaleidoscopes, we watch acrobats
and clowns, conjurors and knife throwers turn back
the epochs as if pages in a book.
Like a sudden rush of snare drums, a brief
and heavy shower accompanies
the finale – but we emerge from the big top
into that special freshness after rain.
The church bell is tolling for evensong.
As if there were no sin, house martins
swerve and bank and twitter.
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By David Selzer