#57

clown crimes (a poem)

Roland Topor

---

she drools on you I bet. 
like if you
gave a doll ketamine, slurring
awful secrets dripping poison
my jealousy is a bold blonde
LOOK AT IT

meanwhile outside 
fighting for the right to write 
for different shades of corruption
propaganda jester
an embarrassing parade of self-importance
the clowns have found
twisted togetherness 

you open the window to take it all
in:
the suffocating evil bouncing off
buildings that aspire to touch God
where you live for now
the circus

not very far away from my own
but enough

not to overhear the dinners with
Jacobin staff writers and SNL cast members
like nothing matching is 
convincing enough
one day Jimmy Fallon too

You've all come to sit at the same table
You've all earned this so much