Chasing Clowns

A little while ago I was at a benefit concert for anti sex trafficking.  It was a good thing with some great musicians that I enjoy listening too.  The funny thing was there was a stretch with a lot of depressing breakup songs and he even cracked a joke about it.  I wouldn't have thought much of it except that I had been at another concert several weeks prior where it was even more obvious.  Now I've been jaded by girls plenty myself and I can appreciate a good breakup song as much as the next guy, but there was something stirring inside of me that shouldn't we have something else to write about?  I don't know God or family or even yellow submarines.

I started thinking about this idea of heartbreak just not seeming so important anymore.  And then for some reason, this got me to thinking about Camp Side By Side -- a camp for kids with cancer that is very close to my heart.  I started thinking about the many stories we've all heard of the person everyone loves slowly dying in front of all their friends and families -- the story where they are the beacon of strength and clarity and joy.  I ended up writing a poem about it.  The funny thing about this poem was my favorite line was the line "Chasing Clowns".  I have never seen a terminally ill child chase a clown, but that line seemed to capture everything I was trying to say so perfectly and so vividly.

Chasing Clowns
Growing pale
Looking frail
Finding joy left within

Seizing time
Making rhyme
Smile so big

Laughing, playing
Like we did back when

Hearbreak, traffic jams, dollar bills
Just don't seem so important anymore

Not held down
Chasing clowns
Fooling us around

Teaching us
Refusing fuss
Just the way things are

It will soon be done
But not before some fun

Need not cry
All must die