The Sword Swallower

I ain’t never spoken,

never once, not one

word, frozen

and mute as a statue.

I’d stare right at you

with eyes that defied

you to question

my talent for expression.

“Was it the frog in his throat

he had meant to kill?”

Had some thing surprised

or otherwise

made me slip unawares?

The stares

were discouraged

but no one cared.

A crowd pressed close around

the gruesome scene.

Tightrope Walker: 

The sword swallower seemed

horrified.

His eyes

light-bulb wide,

his mouth a frozen gash,

his throat slashed,

like a samurai’s belly

after hari-kari.

The gore

was unimaginable.

No one knew

what he'd meant to do

but the result

was certain.

Curtains.