Washed blue underneath the moon’s light.
Mistake stars for glass
And dust for pearls.
Reality becomes a carnival at midnight.


It’s a brand new world,
And I’m stuck.
Wedged and twisted and bent
Like the performers who leap
From big top to next,
Who I wish I could be.


But I’m lost in this place,
Among these unfamiliar faces,
Nothing but black cats against the moon,
Bodies dark and eyes like pumpkins.
They tower over me, giants of dark,
Intimidating, strong, and large.


And I’m confused, so small,
Unintelligent against this mob.
I don’t understand a word they say
But the laughs they send my way.
I don’t feel anymore,
Save for the spikes
Of their cleated cackles
Coming down on my brain.


Trample, thump.
The crowd flattens me
Until I can’t even breathe.
Left with nothing else to do
But bleed.