as jugglers do

               The chief element of happiness is this:
                                   To want to be what you are.”

--Desiderious Erasmus, Praise of Folly

Jugglers know what music makes
            And hear it on the outside too,

Through music they shape
            With their hands

             The curve of wrist must follow

                     In time

                          Conducting songs that are seen

                          Not heard unless

            You know where the music lives and hear it

                         On the outside too.

                                    As jugglers do. 

They know why clowns are sad but also

how to make them smile.

Jugglers however are not clowns.

And they have promised the clowns not to reveal

            The secrets of sadness.

                        Because everyone then, would either be clowns

                        Or their killers. 

Jugglers however are not sad because sadness lifts with the balls

Which don’t really hang in the air unless you’re trained to watch

            In slow motion.

They of course are trained to watch in slow motion.

It is wrong to juggle living creatures, such as cats

            Or lizards, despite replaceable tails

(of lizards, not cats).

Small birds such as finch accept the first toss, then fly.

The nearest to living a juggler should juggle

            Are food items,

                        Such as squash, which don’t mind if they fall.

                        Or apples, for the tradition of Trees.

                        Only the bravest fool attempts

                                                Raw eggs. 

The world needs fools,

Though most are eventually hanged

Just before Kings

Go to war or turn insane. 

Fools however are not clowns, and they aren’t insane.

All jugglers are fools, but not all fools are jugglers.

         The wise fools practice juggling
                 Every day
                         It passes the time
                         Improves circulation

                         Enhances reflex, flexibility, and grace.

So we end with the art of the toss

            Determining all especially

The time it takes to fall

Catching is understood as a toss by imagining

            Hands as a launch

           When the launching and catching have blurred into one, 

           The work of the juggler is done—

           And watchers hear music

                      That’s already sung.

                                                                                    April 9, 2012

                                                                                    In the month of fools