13 Ways of Looking at a Circus April 2014 | Page 10

Would you prefer
the lion growling or
ringmaster’s shouting
or just after?
Nate

I do not know which is best,
The brave voice of the ringmaster
Or the bickering of innocent kids
When the lion roars
…or just after
Paiton

I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn
winds.
It was a small part of the
pantomime.

V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.

I do not know which to prefer
The mane of a lion
Or the stupidity of a lion tamer
Fireworks before they launch
Or just after
John

Which would I prefer
Cotton candy
During the show
Or burgers
After the show
Alex

I do not know which to prefer
Play games at the circus
Or see the shows.
Maybe I’ll blow all my money
And do both without foes.
Jalen

IX
When the blackbird flew out of
sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.