The Juggler

Oh Juggler, walking the acrobat’s wire,

Don’t let your feet falter, don’t let your arms tire.

 

Keep up your balance; keep up with the pace.

Keep the pale mask with the smile upon your face.

 

Below people gaze at you; don’t meet their eyes.

They wait for your triumph, they watch for your demise.

 

Step to the fifer’s song, go with great care.

Focus your efforts on making it over there.

 

If your legs tremble you may have to stop.

If you hands fumble one pin may be let drop.

 

Oh Juggler, walking the acrobat’s wire,

Don’t let your feet falter, don’t let your arms tire.

Reviews

[Holly Soques]

I love this, especially how you've managed to convey the required sense of balance of any acrobat-juggler through the structure and rhyme scheme of this poem. Good job! This brings a twinge in my heart, because it's so true that people tend to secretly 'watch for the demise' of anyone standing out doing what they cannot. This has good allegorical value as well the intrinsic aesthetic goodness of your descriptions, which I imagine to be very realistic (given that I have never been an acrobat-juggler)

[devon]

This is excellent!

I like how it can be metaphorical and pertain to the struggles of life so perfectly!

Your rhyme was not once off beat, and your use of words is superb! I really enjoyed this piece. I truly did.