Today's prompt was to write a fourteener - a poem with fourteen syllables per line, following an iambic pattern (an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable). I think I've got the syllables down, less sure about the iambic pattern. This might well be a poem I come back to, but for now enjoy the dream of a foolish elephant. - Katie
***
The Elephant's Dream
It was a starry night the day the circus came to town
That shining big top tent held up with pegs stuck in the
ground
The strange, inviting poster with a picture of a clown
When evening fell Tilly and Tim set out towards the field
Towards the lights, towards the tent whose contents so
appealed
Their minds ablaze with thoughts of all the mysteries it
might yield.
"Roll up! Roll up! Now don't be shy!" the man
before them cried
At twelve foot tall he seemed as though his head was the
sky
"There are strange sights to behold me dears, won't
you come inside?"
They paid their fee and entered in and gasped at what
they saw
Past cages of strange animals they wandered rapt with awe
They stopped before a dancing bear who gave a fearful
roar
"He won't bite children, don't be scared" a
voice behind them said,
They turned to see a lady, but she hadn't got a head!
At least not on her shoulders, but under her arm instead.
They hurried on towards the tent along a stall-lined
street
Past fortune tellers, sideshows, rows of toffee apple
treats
They hurried through the canvas flap and quickly took
their seats
"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Children of
every size!
Tonight, within this very ring, before your very eyes!
You'll see a show magnificent! Remarkable! Sublime!
There'll be acrobats in coloured hats who fly above your
head
Teams of tigers, loads of lions, and elephant called Fred
A man who swallows swords, a man who walks along a
thread!
But first, of course, the clowns! We hope you'll find
them diverting!"
They ran in throwing cream pies, pratfalls and water
squirting
Tim and Tilly laughed and laughed until their sides were
hurting
The show went on without a pause, with not a single gap
They saw tigers leap through rings of fire, lions behave
like cats
They marveled at the acrobats and at their coloured hats
And then the ringmaster bade them to cheer and yell and
whoop
And entered Fred the Elephant wearing a hula-hoop
When Fred began to shake his hips the hoop began to loop!
The crowd went mad! The crowd went nuts! They went
absolutely wild!
And Fred the Hooping Elephant looked up and gave a sigh
For Fred's dream was not to hula-hoop: Fred's dream was
to fly
But unbeknownst to anyone the elephant was firm
That night a subtle change had swept across the pachyderm
And now his moment had arrived and he began to squirm
He dropped the hoop and ran for it, across to the trapeze
"I'll show them!" thought the elephant,
"I'll glide and float with ease!"
He climbed and jumped aboard the swing, though it was
quite a squeeze
Alas, alack, poor elephant! He should have realised!
A simple circus tent trapeze can't take someone his
size!
A snap! A crack! A
creak! A groan! The sound of cries below!
And downward crashed the circus tent pulled by the weight
of Fred
It really was a miracle that nobody was dead
Tim and Tilly scrambled out from beneath the canvas spread
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children
large and small
It seems as though I must owe apologies to you all
I hope that nobody was really injured in the fall?
There's certainly a lesson here we must learn in our plight
And you can all be sure that the next time I'll get it
right
When hiring elephants make sure that they're afraid of
heights!
The circus left town that very night, never to return
Along with Fred the Elephant, who still for flight did
yearn
But he has learnt and now remains a grounded pachyderm.
