THE BALLOON MAN

 

E-MAIL FROM GEORGE EVERSON
Happy Birthday
I didn’t know it was your birthday.
Happy birthday Mr. Dykes, and may I wish that all of your days be circus days as well!
If I may offer you a gift sir, by way of thanking you for posting my request a few years ago (apologies I got my e-mail address wrong I was so excited), I would like to offer you this poem I composed as part of my spiritual journal.  It was meant to mirror another event in my life but I also find it a bit of nostalgia for the golden age of the circus I believe.  And with your kind permission I offer it to you as a birthday present.  It is rather dark in some ways but at the same time it reminds us of times past.  In any case, my rambling aside here is the poem.

The Circus Was Always in Town
By George A. Everson
Take me back to a time long ago, when the circus was always in town.

The colors were bright and there was never a frown when the circus was always in town.

Oh yes, there were times when the lot had some storms, but the circus was always in town.

But the show still went on in true circus form and the circus was always in town.

Oh, the clowns made me laugh every day and night.

The aerialists and acrobats thrilled me with their flight.

And everything filled my senses with pure joy and delight for the circus was always in town.

Now it seems the colors fade into uniform gray.

The lot is now empty, the clowns gone away.

The daredevils of yesterday have faded away.

And the circus is never in town.
Again, I hope you have a very happy birthday and may the circus always be in town for you!
God Bless you,
George Everson,
Lynchburg, Virginia