Funny Girl Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

They call me a romantic
They say I wear it well
I am their entertainment
A funny girl, a swell

The clowning and the laughter
Fit me much like a glove
For fleeting hours forgetting
The hell of my dark love

I thought of Pagliacci
His greasepaint smeared with tears
You came to me raw branded
In flames of lust much seared

There was a tiny kernel
A diamond, oh, so rough
That melded us together
But it was not enough

Our love was like a circus
It came to town one day
With glossy candy apples
And then it went away

Today I watch the ‘carnies'
They raise thin cardboard walls
Where freaks and midgets frolic
Amusing one and all

They call me a romantic
They say I wear it well
I am their entertainment
A funny girl, a swell.