Circus of Atrocities

Hoy yay hoy yay

Step right up

Buy your ticket

Come inside

Drink deep from

Delusion’s cup

Pay the fee

And take the ride

Inside your eyes

Will reveal

Things of wonder

To behold

Endless lies

They cheat and steal

Where misfortune

Favors gold

Entertainment in disguise

Not devoid of subtleties

Terrors right before your eyes

From the screens of your TVs

Where the wicked advertise

Products which the wise one flees

This and more your dollar buys

The Circus of Atrocities

Observe the Right Ring of War

All spectacle and pageantry

Not a show to be foreswore

Instead at its corps esprit

Action! Lights! You can’t ignore

The worst of bored humanity

In the constant clutch for more

Enslavement which sets you free

Entertainment in disguise

Bleachers? Pews, so on your knees

In tents covering up the skies

To the canvass plaintive pleas

Should the market bear, franchise

Not just days that one must seize

Where the cunning pass for wise

The Circus of Atrocities

Look then to the left right ring

The Ring of Divinity

Hurking herald angles swing

Tortures to infinity

Supplication death must bring

Compounding the absurdity

Insulting and injuring

Gods not big on subtlety  

Entertainment in disguise

Angles of many degrees

Gravitas in suits and ties

Elevated appointees

In the face of reason flies

Men on the lying trapeze

Devoid of substance, only size

The Circus of Atrocities

The Center Ring calls your attention

It’s where all the decisions are made

Though most acts there aren’t worth a mention

Too many players in the wrong trade

Past date expiration retention

Performance will always degrade

As well will outcomes by extension

Bad shows are always foul played

Ringmaster as ringleader

With the retinue of clowns

The juggling tight-rope walkers

Avoid the pitfalls of letdowns

Acrobatic lion tamers

The strongman forever frowns

As the upper crusties cheer

In their gaudy tales and crowns

And though it’s just performance

Our pretensions make it real

Taken in by spectacle

Offered with effective zeal

Proffered superiority

Hard denying the appeal

At least until the lights go up

And thus sully the ideal

Entertainment in disguise

Degradation by decrees

As the power hungry rise

The powerless drop to their knees

Blinders block the blackened skies

The show proceeds forth as they please

With screens pulled over our eyes

The Circus of Atrocities

July 4, 2025 Arturo Hammer

© 2025 ArtAHammer