Night: her sable dome scattered with diamonds,
  Fused my dust from a light year,
  Squeezed me to her breast, sowed me with carbon,
  Strung my warp across time
  Gave me each a horse, sunrise and graveyard,
  Told me only I was her;
  Bid me face the east closed me in questions
  Built the sky for my dawn . . .
  
  Cleaned my feet of mud, followed the empty
  Zebra ride to the Cirkus,
  Past a painted cage, spoke to the paybox
  Glove which wrote on my tongue-
  Pushed me down a slide to the arena,
  Megaphonium fanfare.
  In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster
  Bid me join the parade . . .
  
  "Worship!" cried the clown, "I am a T.I.
  Making bandsmen go clockwork,
  See the slinky seal Cirkus policeman;
  Bareback ladies have fish."
  Strongmen by his feet, plate-spinning statesman,
  Acrobatically juggling-
  Bids his tamers go quiet the tumblers
  Lest the mirror stop turning . . .
  
  Elephants forgot, force-fed on stale chalk,
  Ate the floors of their cages.
  Strongmen lost their hair, paybox collapsed and
  Lions sharpened their teeth.
  Gloves raced round the ring, stallions stampeded
  Pandemonium seesaw . . .
  I ran for the door, ringmasters shouted,
  "All the fun of the Cirkus!"