The strongman was eventually
discovered by the circus
they made him a sweet deal
no more bending rebar bending lead
pipes bending thick steel
rods in the privacy of his
trailer home or in the junk pile
behind the horse shed
This was showbiz baby
the strongman stood in the bright
spotlights now in the sawdust
smelling of horses and popcorn
after the clowns before those acrobats
acrobats
he loved the acrobats
but he stood there and he bent those pipes
like a clown at a child’s birthday
into cats, into ravens, into maybe
a heart shape, something like that
sometimes the metal he was bending
growled or groaned
and sometimes he did
He still looks like a typical strongman
except he is getting old
white hair, skinny arms, old man’s pot belly
But you can still tell he is different
strong
you can tell if you have eyes to see
and he stands there
in the sawdust
and bends a piece of metal and
gives it to a child in the front row
Here a honey bee, for you.