The Knife Thrower's Lament

My darling, so many knives I've thrown your way
And one too many sent you to your grave
A lapse, I fear, a moment's carelessness
All those years, my aim was true but yesterday
our luck ran out, I pierced your heart
That heart so full of tenderness and grace
Now the undertaker will measure you up
Take your vital statistics the way I used to do.

I must stay strong, and not build fences
except to write on the Message Wall, I love you!
The circus was our wandering life, the Big Top
the dome where we let our defenses down,
We walked a tightrope with the acrobats
and the red-nosed clown, but whose laughing now?
I'll count the days and measure the years
in sighs and lonely tears for my beautiful girl.