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Circus by PJ Thomas

By League of Canadian Poets | February 7, 2022

Poem name: Circus Poet name: PJ Thomas Poem begins: I hear the drumming of yesterday’s circus, a cacophony to begin, then a symphony with a central beat erupts in this morning’s ash and cloud.  How many trumpets are spewed forth, blown in the high winds of a make-believe tornado while lava flows around our feet, evaporating our clowns’ shoes melded with spilled popcorn and discarded corndog sticks.  The volcano washes away even the stickiest gum from our hair while tufts of cotton candy are gently melted back into coloured sugar by our gigantic warm tongues.  To say I love you in all that fury of wind and music and molten rock is all I need to allay our beasts and turn the tide of elephants from incoming, to outgoing free, while the circus sets up on the next eroded beach after lightning turns the sand to glass. End of poem.  Credits: Copyright ©PJ Thomas Previously published in Undertow (PAJE Press, 2020). Born and raised on Lake Ontario, PJ Thomas relocated to Peterborough, ON to attend Trent University where she became editor-in-chief of the student newspaper. Ms. Thomas went on to edit several local publications and published two novels. As a senior emerging poet, she has been writing poetry for three years. Thomas published her first collection of poems, Undertow, in October 2020. Her lyrics appeared on the 2021 Juno-nominated album, Solar Powered Too. She is working on a second book of verse, Waves, to be published in autumn 2022. Thomas makes her home with her cat by the Otonabee River.

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