“Send Out the Clowns (Far Out)” by Edward Lee

Isn’t it time
someone drew the curtains
on this farce
we’ll call government?
There are too many clowns
on the stage, their jokes
long since over
and never that funny
to begin with;
surely there are other acts
to follow, better-skilled professionals
and eager-to-learn amateurs,
ready to repair the damage
our collective I.Q.
has relentlessly taken?
And if this is all
we can expect
for the next thousand years,
please then, someone trip
the fire alarm
and let us out of here,
before someone really does
burn this place
to the ground, and we,
lassitude-d by despair,
allow ourselves to burn
into perfect peaks of ashes
too heavy for the even strongest winds.

Edward Lee’s poetry, short stories, non-fiction and photography have been published in magazines in Ireland, England, and America, including The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, Acumen, and Smiths Knoll.  His debut poetry collection Playing Poohsticks On Ha’Penny Bridge was published in 2010. He is currently working towards a second collection. He also makes musical noise under the names Ayahuasca Collective, Lewis Milne, Orson Carroll, Blinded Architect, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Boy. His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com.