The following is a poem I wrote today.

The poem is written through the eyes of a very young
boy who has just gone to the circus.

Yesterday my class went to the circus
I saw elephants and cannon balls
and trapeze artists.
I also saw my first clown up close.
I noticed something about the clown
that I don't see in picture books.

The clown wore a painted smile
that bright cheery red smile of a clown?
it's all painted.

I asked my teacher
why does a clown wear a painted smile?
She just shrugged and said,
They just do.

When the circus was over
I walked around the grounds
I saw the clown's tent
I looked through the opening
and I saw the clown wiping off his big red smile
and all the white powder on his face.

The clown looked to have tears in his eyes
maybe that's why the clown wears a painted smile.
Teacher found me,
Come let's go.

As we walked away
we were at the parking lot
waiting to board the bus
and then suddenly we heard a loud bang
it sounded like a gun shot.

It came from the clown's tent
we looked over and saw the trapeze girl
enter the tent.
She screamed.

There was a bunch of shouting
police cars and ambulances
soon arrived.
And we got put on the bus
and driven away.

On the radio news this morning
they talked about the circus yesterday
I'll have to ask my teacher,
What is suicide?
And why did the clown wear a painted smile?

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