In response to The Daily Post prompt: juxtapose.

He steps inside and pirouettes,
Gracefully circling the displays
Of fragile pyramids of china ballerinas
And stacks of orange-haired clowns balanced on one another’s outstretched hands.

One false move and the monumental constructions
Could collapse in a crash of carnival catastrophe.
The possibility prompts him to tremble with anticipation.
Who could fault him for losing his balance
On a stray banana peel?

Can he exercise the discipline of the dancer?
Or will he play the clown
Reveling in the destruction of the perfectly engineered showcase?
Leave now! Don’t even imagine the thrilling downfall of everything dainty…

Too late—an errant elbow moves of its own accord.
Chaos ensues.

In response to today’s Daily Post prompt.

Balancing too many obligations
Like bricks atop stemware
Tricky to negotiate
Top-heavy at best
Risk involved
Threatening to collapse
Is it just awkward
Hard to manage
Uncomfortable
Or doomed to failure

This poem was inspired by today’s The Daily Post prompt: rapid. My first thought was the line from the old Clement Moore poem: “More rapid than eagles, his coursers they flew.” From there it morphed to the last line of the poem below. I only had to come up with a premise and nine more lines.

Photo by R.G. Daniel.

The choral director mopped his brow.
His soprano soloist mooed like a cow.

The tenors and basses howled like hounds.
He cut them off. “You’re out of bounds.

“I want a tone that’s mellow and soft.”
The alto section yelled and scoffed.

To get his charges under restraint
He doused them with leftover azure paint.

Instead of calming, they kicked and threw.
More rabid than beagles, his choristers blue.