The Death Of A Clown.

 

He paints his face and becomes the clown
Checks the mirror for his furtive frown
Got it all hidden inside
Watches the people having fun
He wants to run
Get away
To that day
When the children played
So long ago 
Time goes by
But the screams still cry
He paints his face and becomes the clown
Checks the mirror for his furtive frown
Got it all hidden inside
Watches the people having fun
As he spins the gun
More laughter as he drops with a bang
Huge applause they begin to stand
Then no sound
Suddenly the laughter turns to frowns
So sad 
The death of a clown.

Reviews

[Kathy Van Kurin]

'The Death Of A Clown'
Paul Bell,
this reminded me of how complex we people can be. We hide behind and take so many personas. Laughter, giggling when a threat is percieved or pain which is pushed away through a smiling face while anger may be directly below the surface. The clown metaphor was quite fitting in your above poem.
Blessings,
Kathy

[Paul Bell]

Spot on, Kathy. The perception of the funny face.
But lurking behind. The grief leading to suicide.

[Kathy Van Kurin]

Yes, I do see what you mean. It is a tragic reality for so many now gone from us. Happy Thanksgiving today.

[Neal S]

I'm really not a fan of clowns..But this seems to be deeper than that. A funny outside with a drowning inside. Nice work

[Paul Bell]

Thanks Neal.

[Vria P Crow]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Clowns terrify yet thrill me. The title reminded me of Stephen King's novel, "It"; it is a favorite of mine.

CONTENT AND FORMAT

The "clown" was a symbol for an overworked parent. The speaker had lived his life pretending that there was nothing wrong. People have the tendency to do this for their families especially when there are children involved. It was disheartening when I reached the end despite that this was foreshadowed in the title. Suicide was not something I expected. He kept his "clown face" on till the very end. I envisioned him shooting himself in front of his family because he could no longer take the pressure. It made me wonder if things would turn out differently if he spoke to someone about his inner conflict instead of keeping it dormant. He rose to extreme levels; fatality. Evidently, he was struggling with depression for a long time.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Overall, I felt empathy for the speaker. This gave a unique spin on the "mask" metaphor often people use. However, the writer has adopted the clown image that he hid behind. Thank you for sharing!

sincerely,
ria

[Paul Bell]

Thanks ria.

[Valentine]

We all have hidden depths that would astonish our parents if they but knew. Interesting write. Valentine

[Paul Bell]

Thanks Valentine.

[Emomoemi Johnson Newcou..]

A beautiful piece. What happy disguises we wear as humans, oftentimes: we make people appear, appearing happy ourselves, but we sooner or later fall upon our own 'gun'.

[Paul Bell]

Thanks for popping by.

[Lyn Anderson]

Unfortunately my first thoughts of clowns are very negative, John Wayne Gacy and such, although this seems to be more of a commentary on how people who appear to be happy on the outside (Robin Williams comes to mind) are masking many demons. Good poem.

[Paul Bell]

Always amazed at the negativity of clowns. Maybe the mask behind them.

[PoeticSorcery]

reminds me a bit of Grimaldi, which is never a bad thing to do :)

[Paul Bell]

Thanks PoeticSorcery

[PoeticSorcery]

you're welcome Paul Bell