Dallas is dark and almost still,
trying to stay asleep.
I have never been here at 4am
wheeling down this empty highway,
it feels I'm somewhere
more Midwestern and 1950's.
The greatest show on earth has quit
the town it seems. A weary circus stuffed
its costumed dogs and pacing lions,
acrobats and even the tiny car full
of clowns back into their crates
and trunks and bright railcars;
the wheels turn to leave.
The loud red Barnum and Bailey
signs silently mouth to me,
“We hope you come next year.”
My eyes nod to each silver car
unconsciously in search of
a giraffe head or two poking through
the roof, a dangled elephant trunk,
or the bearded lady brushing
out her wavy hair.
Abandoning these tracks,
this lost Edward Hopper scene
rolls away to somewhere else.
A clown face finishes his cigarette,
flicks it out the window
and resumes his pose.
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