The Tightrope Walker

This is her field sobriety test.
Dizziness now will twist
the people below her
into whirlpools of color,
spinning balloons.

She wants to stay straight
for the one still face in the audience,
her son, the child performer,
who smiles when he's afraid.

She wants to stay straight
for her husband, the clown.
But rescue is his reflex
despite his grease-paint hands.
He'll try to catch her anyway.

Copyright © 2007 Lesley Dauer All rights reserved
from Smartish Pace
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission