ART
BY MILA LE
There’s a clown in my closet And I won’t set him free Perhaps it’s the fear of him Hurting someone like how he hurt me At the circus we laugh During moments of our life Where we wish for an escape Of all things rife But when the show comes to an end And we are left without light
ILLUSTRATION BY ARIELLE ZEPEDA
The circus becomes silent And the clown creeps into the night Lured me in with his warm smile And his sleeves, full of color But only some know Of the dark secrets hidden in his big, red honker To put on a show was his only purpose So he used me for laughter Made a clown out of me So he could be the ringmaster
FEAR ISSUE 88.03
I balanced on trapezes for him Without a safety net Every day I risked my sanity Just to be full of regret The clown used to make me feel A little less ugly, a little less lonely A little less of a phony But now the clown makes me feel Like I never needed an escape from reality
23
Rough 4.indd 23
4/25/22 2:22 PM