Part I:
Once upon a springtime,
It was the festival of the clowns.
One clown two clown
Red clown blue clown
Colourful clown!
A sea of clowns
coated in animal skin
(What a thrill!)
But who’s the biggest
Clown of them all?
In the distance,
the spring leaves chanted:
“Clown fest, fun fest,
In the countryside they
Play.
Red, blue and the colourful –
All were led astray.”
Regarde! The clown parade:
Saffron the anteater
Standing two feet tall.
Linda the lizard
on a wall!
Asteroid the Hummingbird
Without a sound.
Sierra the serpent
On the ground!
Casper the Lion
In the field:
Such is the team
Revealed.
The animals held a disdainful
look: “Saffron the Anteater is
not ours to take! He’s sly and immoral.”
Casper stood firm: “Give him a chance!
The wretched
also have
a good heart!
Who are we to judge?”
Part II:
“Clown fest, fun fest,
In the countryside they
play.
Red, blue and the colourful –
All were led astray!”
Saffron the anteater
Scheming nose:
“I will be the biggest clown
Of them all!”
(His
biggest ambition was
to grow tall. Alas he was really small.)
In the wind, there was a soft whisper:
Saffron the anteater thought to conspire.
‘I’ll tell you the lowliest
Trick to make you all-powerful.
Come a little closer
Lean in (écoute) :
“the stars in the sky
Are all untouchable.
ones that
Take from the sky really
Are abominable,
But those who try –
With a very
small spoonful of poison –
Obtain the invincible.
So what are you waiting for?
Take from the sky!
Poison the lion and take his might!”’
Comes dawn,
The lion sleeps.
Saffron the anteater
chokes and rocks.
Casper turned and
Stared into Saffron’s
Soul
Blacked and racked.
The poison
Grew and grew
All over Casper’s body.
(The worst kind
Of poison.)
“Saffron the
Anteater, my old old friend?”
There was no response.
Clown fest, fun fest,
The lion is dead.
How jolly the occasion –
Time to celebrate!
Put on the clown costume
And now I’m the king!
All cheered for Saffron the anteater!
(For he was now the biggest clown.)
“Clownery, funnery.
Let’s go
For a ride! The lion is no more
I took his might!”
“I am a tall animal!
Taller than a giraffe,
And a giraffe is not even
That tall because I am taller
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH”,
laughed Saffron the Anteater.
(He was evil after all.)
The sky glowed
in the midst of spring,
Songs of birds on
The branches
where they sing:
“To take from the stars
Is to be cursed.”
Saffron the anteater
Withered in the sun:
“Help, help,
it was the poison
That ruined the fun!”
how petty the creature
riddled with insecurity
drowned in his ego
marked for eternity.
Come autumntime,
The circus was no more.
Come winter, no bird sings.
Casper’s body decayed,
And slowly
Maggots crawled out
Of his skeleton.
All abandoned Casper the lion,
(He was dead, there was
No reason to sing).
Springtime is go-time,
it comes again.
Out in the distance,
Another call.
Where was the animal
That once stood tall?
Chanting in unison,
The birds sing a familiar
Refrain:
“Clown fest, fun fest,
In the countryside they
play.
Red, blue and
The colourful
We are here to stay.”
