The Circus Field Poem by Liam ó Comáin

It was a small place
The Circus Field
The middle field of three
Fields lying between
Josephine Avenue
And Roemill Gardens

It never seemed to be
Used until July and August
When Fossetts Circus
Or Duffy's domiciled there
Usually arriving in the
Wee hours and in no time
The great top like an
Egyptian pyramid rose
And blocked the sky line
Towards Dungiven

Bringing commotion to
Our neighbourhood
With 'townies' and 'culchies'
Gathering to view the lions
And oddities like the obese
Lady with the black beard
And so on...

The clowns and the trapeze
Artists were my favourites
And when the circus moved
On I aped those acts
Dressed in my mother's
Clothes and trapezing from
Oak limbs alongside the Roe

Now when I see posters
Headlined 'Fossestts' or 'Duffy's'
Memories of the Circus Field
Arise in my thoughts
Conveying me back to a
Time long ago...agh the march
Of time