Christmas Circus

Rough version, written on Christmas.

Christmas Circus

A circus moved into
grandma's living room
this Christmas.

Around the tree
ran a monkey
and a zebra

racing in tandem
with the horses and dogs
abnormally small.

Deformed creatures
performed their dance
and broad chested

fellows preached
their speech while
pretty girls tooted

horns announcing
the ringleader's entrance
from behind a red and white
stripped curtain.

They played and played
but he did not appear
 while the crowd waited in
anticipation and watched
in horror as the
scene began to dissolve.

The monkey and zebra
fell into combat as
horses trampled dogs
too small for their
old and aging eyes.

Deformed creatures
lost entertainment's appeal
their bodies revolting

causing pretty housewives
to cover young children's eyes.

The girls playing horns
ran out of breath and
their silence left only

the chaotic sounds
of grandma's circus
going up in flames

all the while waiting for
the ringleader's appearance
to save the day and

put out the fire that
eventually consumed
his red and white stripped
curtain in a flaming
triumphant gulp.

Doppelganger

She drinks tea obsessively tonight
out of her teal mug
that is chipped at the bottom

like a gap-toothed grin
it smiles up at her as steam
rises to fog the lenses
incased in thick black frames.

Her stubby fingers gently remove
the delicate thread
from tea bag's top

a severing of umbilical chord
blood gushes from the beholder
until the pouch is deflated
and its guts lay helplessly
on the operating table.

Her thick fingers move swiftly
repacking the bag with
earth's dirt and twigs and leaves

hurriedly pining together
the self inflicted wound
sewing with rushed complacency

birthing the doppelganger
for her sweet chamomile
that her pudgy hands
drown effortlessly
in the teal mug's depths.