THE JUGGLER
Look at the juggler balancing time!
His hands intent on a touch, not a hold.
He knows suspension is his paradigm.
He throws up the terrible flames – watch them climb
in a circle of light like a big marigold.
Just look at that juggler balancing time!
Tossing his torches, mocking what’s tame,
he walks the tightrope in a ragged blindfold.
He knows suspension is his paradigm.
Round and round like a fanatical rhyme
he sends the world spinning—ah, numbers untold
see the juggler balancing. Time
and space are God’s ball and flame.
Flinging sun and moon to the vacuous cold,
he knows suspension is his paradigm.
But we all must be jugglers in pantomime,
hands ready to clutch, but brief touch is more bold
for us. And the juggler balancing time
Suspends! Suspense is his paradigm.
–Christine Hemp
from the Webster Review
IMAGE: “Juggler’s Dreams,” Alexander Calder, 1966; gouache and ink on paper
29 × 42 in
