Through the hoops I go,

Not the graceful gazelle

Of my youth

Instead worn and weary

I leap at the touch of the prod

Or snap of the whip

Through the hoops I go,

Mindlessly

Leaping from one to the next

Until my tamer gets bored

His mind has wandered

Other gazelles to train

Through the hoops I go,

Muscles know no other way

This circus I am trapped in

Actually a merry-go-round

The clowns laugh at my act

Whips cracking far away

Through the hoops I go,

My mind leaps past them

Higher and higher I go

Toward the sun

Deaf to Icarus’ warning

My wings melding into one

Through the hoops I go,

Time more precious

Every second in the air

I ask myself

How much longer

Before I miss the hoop?

photo by Pixabay