When Johnstone’s Circus came to town

Featured in

Buy $27.99
  • Published 20140506
  • ISBN: 9781922182258
  • Extent: 264 pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook
At an unfashionable seaside resort,
no more than a country town
that happened to be near salt water,
Johnstone’s Circus arrived
for its annual summer season,
though most of its well-known family
of spangled, toothy artistes
had long ago died,
replaced by a motley ensemble.
‘The Big Top’ wasn’t big;
more like’The Medium Top’.
Small tears and gaps in the canvas walls
meant kids and shameless adults
who hadn’t bought a ticket
peeped in at the show
or crawled between flaps
to squeeze into the audience.

The tent poles leant on an angle.

.             .             .

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares

Subscribe to great writing

Access starts at just $6 per month. Print and digital options to suit every budget!

Learn more

About the author

Kevin Densley

Kevin Densley lives in Gherang, Victoria. His poetry has been widely published in Australia and the UK. Densley's latest collection is Lionheart Summer (Picaro 2011)

More from this edition

A story in clothes

GR Online'Her pale draperies, and the background of foliage against which she stood, served only to relieve the long dryad-like curves that swept upwards from...

Resurrection myths

MemoirI WAS BORN dead. I didn't breathe. Maybe I didn't want to. Perhaps I was simply over-thinking it. I do that. Holding back nervously....

Thank you for listening

MemoirMAY 2012: I'm sitting at rehearsal of the Nothing prepared me for this show at La Mama Theatre and mentally I'm listing the occupations of some...

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.