The Flying Circus of the Mind
by Aaron Poller
Wants no clown no bears no tent
no Barnum no Bailey no baby elephant
just wake before most other folks
sit still become a small part of it
the flying circus of the mind won’t
set up through use of pharmaceuticals
noisy silence paradox redux a
meta-physics that will not self destruct
should empathy erupt hush deafening
if you want feedback you could bring
a sleeve or two of cotton candy bags
of peanuts though you won’t eat many
once you settle down 3-D better
four dimensions virtual reality
what you hoped is already here for you
the others may not seem to care won’t
get much out of bed before the sun
dream life sweet perpetual double bind
the rest of you must simply sit and wait
come for the flying circus of the mind.
Author’s Comment: As a writer (and as a human being) I am interested in the play between mind and matter: the contrast between large and small, between significant and insignificant, between action and inaction. I think that in this poem I just found that proverbial “golden thread”, grabbed hold of it and followed. The poem pretty much wrote itself. That being said, I have spent several years re-writing it and wonder if I will ever think it is really finished.
Bio: Aaron Poller was born in the Bronx, New York. He holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Community College, and LaSalle University. He has worked for over 35 years in mental health nursing and since 2005 maintains a practice as a psychotherapist in Winston-Salem, N.C. where he also teaches mental health nursing at Winston-Salem State University. He has two grown daughters and lives with his wife, four dogs and two cats.
Wild Goose Poetry Review 