Photograph of a Circus in Europe
all the children are gleeful,
except for the ragamuffin whose oval face is shocked,
and her sister, prettier, who is asleep on her shoulder.
all the other children have large open mouths.
her own small mouth is turned down like that occasional
jack-o-lantern one sees.
her eyes are turned down at the corners.
she has caught her breath like a fluttering sparrow.
child, i have seen it too.
it will not go away.
always the others will be wide-mouthed with hysteria
or asleep on our shoulders.
we will go through life looking like pumpkins.
the other kids will say, "how come you always look like a pumpkin?"
and someday even the prettier person asleep on our shoulder
