Sherry Chandler

Georgia Wallace

Georgia Wallace is a founding member of the Green River Writers and has served as its treasurer for many years. The poem below is from her chapbook, My Father’s Daughter (Grex Press, 1996). I think I’m fond of this one right now because I’ve been doing the Sideshow myself.

Balancing Act

My father’s daughter learned how to balance
herself on the back of an elephant,
knew every trick to please her audience.
Perched atop this pachyderm, she watched
her mother walk the high wire, place one foot
ever so slowly in front of the other–never
looking down, down to the ring where
the elephants stood.

My father’s daughter married two clowns,
kept riding the elephant,
always careful to keep the clowns laughing.
Soon she learned to hang by her knees,
a trick taught her by the trapeze artist–who
loved her when she rode the elephant.
Later she learned from the animal trainer
to handle the big cats. She would enter
their cages armed only with the knowledge
that they could eat her and that they
were afraid of the elephant.

My father’s daughter learned how to juggle–
two clowns, an aerialist, a lion tame–a skill
taught her by the greatest of them all–the
Ringmaster. And though the circus folded
long ago and she no longer rides,
she’s still a master juggler.

Possibly related posts:

At the Zoo

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

I know Christmas is over–

Cat, Owl, and Zappa

Wallace Stevens

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