“… words as voluminous as a circus tent that comes with a zipper…†– “Space to Dream†– a poem by Cameron Hartley Closing the eyes to day dream Circus visions of youth at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s Remembering the thrill of watching Humongous elephants performing tricks As a grand finale standing on hind feet Leaning on each other’s backs Rank odor of wet hay and animal sweat Concentrated fug inside the voluminous circus tent No one cares of the smelly musky concentration Due to the excitement Forgetting everything with hilarious laughter Watching clowns of all sizes Midgets and giants tripping, fighting and running Cliff hanging thrill of flying acrobats Holding on to thin ropes The spectator’s shrills holding their breath breathless So as to not blow them away with awed respiration While cotton candy, peanuts and popcorn Excite salivations of drool Fearless men and women swing far above my head With the crack of the lion tamer’s whip heartbeats stop brought back to life with the lion’s roars As all envision themselves being the tamer Standing tall next to the fearsome creatures Mostly remembering falling in love With the pretty girl dressed in a white bathing suit with long tail feathers She is standing on top of a galloping white stallion Bareback and running in circles Her long wavy hair and plumage wafting in the putrid air One had holding the leather reins The other waving at us Back to our reality