PICKINGS

Poetry from NHI publications



CLOWN
So, if your mask conceals a thousand griefs
why is your face the saddest you can paint
and why are not your eyes beyond belief?

Your wear a face as fragile as gold leaf.
How do you stop it flaking, with restraint
so, if your mask conceals a thousand griefs?

Your naked soul casts troubles in relief,
your motley is the oddest of the saints'
so, why are not your eyes beyond belief?

Why not a saint, when constantly your chief
concern transcends and tempers life's complaint
so, if your mask conceals a thousand griefs?

When circus-fright becomes fantasy's thief
(not all of art is fortified with paint)
then, why are not your eyes beyond belief?

Your foolish skill taps deep and rih, as brief
and full as any consecrated saint's.
So, if your mask conceals a thousand griefs
why, why are not your eyes beyond belief?



BRENT GARNER
from
New Hope International New Series #8

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A note to this poem, published in 1986, reads: Words from this poem have been worked into a stained glass panel by London artist Sue Cook, who created a window for the clowns' church, Holy Trinity, Dalston.

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This page last updated: 24th November 2005.