Carnival

poem

Iris Shaw

---

When the last end of the world came, on a Tuesday at half past nine

We sat on a hill, you and I,

And watched the blazing lights, like spectators at a carnival

The clowns came out and did their part -

Everyone laughed and no one believed them

Though the mimes wept, and we paused for half a moment.

Swords were swallowed, acrobats fell from the sky

An elephant danced a solemn dance

To the tune of a song I forget, ah yes,

And there were lions too.

Then came a girl on a tightrope

Who wavered and wept, and fell, at last

Far to her death, pink spangles on red, hands crushed

By the weight of the earth, which fell with her.

The music was over, the body was buried, we left

To sit at home alone, waiting in silence

For the next last carnival.