TRICKSTER

I don’t have enough money

to go to the circus every day,

so I have to dream up many

sneaky ways

to enter.

One evening, I carry a violin,

pretending to be one of the musicians.

The next afternoon, I haul a stack of papers

to make myself look like an official.

Finally, after much trial and error,

I discover that the clown loves poetry,

so now I simply trade

rhythmic verses

for tickets.

His favorites are the romantic rhymes,

which I imagine he will recite as if they

are his own heartfelt poems, whenever he

falls as deeply in love

as this hopeful

twelve-year-old

trickster.

Unable to imagine

life without the circus,

I audition, but my poet’s body

fails to pass all the tests

for athletic talent,

and I end up facing

Hortensia’s unbearable

departure.