There's a carnival raging on the inside
and the ringmasters' eyes are red
UFO's between the trees
and his grin is sardonic and wide
with teeth clattering like broken piano keys:
'why are you here? come to the coaster!
have a ride, take a snap, strike a pose,
on marlins and clouds and bees'
sucking honey from the master's nose
that covers the carousels and the goblins' chalice -
that feeds the griffins and dragons and ghosts -
'hold on tight!' said the Hatter to Alice -
and listen and solve the riddle
that clowns spell out with a Piper's fiddle:
Read the twirls as the hurricane blows
and dot the i's with a unicorn's horn
and realize they are here now and
they were before you were born
so when you take the pills
and forsake the thrills
look at the clock
and rewind the
time,
and admit to the mirror and say:
'the circus in my head has never been real,
but the demons there have always been mine!'