Imaginary Circus 02.03.00
12.11.03

[Imaginary Circus ]

I dreamt myself tall/slender with flowing long
hair and a black top hat. I stood in the
center of a varicolored carnival tent, ringed on
three sides by faceless spectators under a red and
gold banner reading “Mistress Maydela’s Imaginary
Circus.” I wore a deep red dinner jacket,
like an old time carnival ringmaster trimmed in
black sealskin, with a tiny, tiny black rubber
skirt and tall black boots. I strode
around the ring, snapping a fearsome looking
single-tail whip, gesturing commands as to a
set of performing circus animals—but all the
cages were empty. I did a trick with
riding about on a tiger, and one could see the
cage door slide slowly open, accompanied by
scary music and hungry-sounding growls. One
could see the sand on the ground shift under
its four paws, and all gasped in
amazement as I slid up onto its imaginary
back and rode slowly around the ring.
Later, those seated in the first row would
swear they felt its hot breath against their
faces, and one woman leaning too far
forward felt its silky tail brush
against her cheek. Certainly, all saw the
steak I offered it quickly being
devoured, though none could see the terrible
teeth that left such enormous gouges
in the meat. I performed similar tricks
with trained seals, an elephant herd, sticking
my head into a lion’s mouth and other such
circus tricks. For the grand finale I flew
about the bleachers on the back of an
enormous imaginary white swan, showering children
with tiny, bright pellets that flowered into
cones of spun sugar candy as they grasped it,
and flitting strange blossoms of velvet hues
into the hair of every beautiful woman.
As I flew down for my glorious dismount I
cracked the whip once, loudly so that it
sparked electrically against the packed ground. At that
signal small, leprechaun-like men began
moving quickly through the rows of onlookers,
holding out green leaf-felt
hats for donations. Children threw in lucky
coins and magic marbles, real flint arrowheads
and gemlike bits of glass. Women shook out
their jewelry in cascades over the green hats
which never filled and men emptied their
billfolds before pulling their families along to
waiting responsibilities. And as the last person
left the tent the little men all instantly
donned their hats and the cages snapped closed as
one by one all the animals came to life.  ¶ 1:41 AM 0 comments