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Book 3 Page 55

The clown tried to be serious

The clown tried to be serious

for he had hurt his big toe.

But this the children

did not know.

He hopped and he yelled

all in a gasp,

but the more he exclaimed,

the more they laughed.

He lay on his back

pointing madly at his sore toe.

But they thought it was just

a part of the show.

It seemed;

the more he tried acting perfectly serious,

The more the crowd

became delirious.

Eventually, tears rolled down the sad clowns face.

But even this was to the audience taste.

No one thought

the clown was dinkum.

“It was the funniest thing,”

they kept on thinkin'.

No matter what the clown tried to do,

there was fits of laughter over his big fat shoe.

And so, the moral of this story boys and girls is;

not to play the clown 

because no one will believe you

when you want to frown.

© Written by Dominic John Gill www.poetry.net.au   dominicj7@poetry.net.au 27/6/99