END TIMES

The circus tent is down now,

Moonlight and the starlight

Vanished like candles snuffed quickly.

A black silence rages the sky

Above the stilled rings where once

Blared music glamorized the night

And will-of-the wisp lights enchanted

The wide-eyed crowd casting

Stars where no stars shone

Joy where no joy endured

The circus tent is down now

Bare of bird-song and leaves

Trees wither by the side of a road

That leads neither on nor back

And the sad-faced clown

With red nose and floppy shoes

Looks on with a wink and a shrug.