the juggler

he starts off slowly
three balls in the air
admittedly
it’s a bit rough at first
but
before long
he’s juggling them with
skill and dexterity
then
he adds a fourth and fifth ball
a sixth and a seventh
then he decides
to change things up
he gets rid of one ball
trading it
for a knife
then repeats the process
until all the balls
have been replaced
now
juggling nothing but knives
he lifts up one foot
balancing on the other
finally
he culminates the show
lifting the other foot
and floating in the air
knives twirling in graceful patterns
as the crowd
bored
wanders away
one kid throws
the clichéd tomato
which the juggler
deftly adds to the pattern
playing to their backs
as they go
talking about how they
could really have done it
so much better


©2014-Art Belliveau