Another One of Us

At the sideshow
they bark for me
pull the crowds in
while my chest tightens
behind the screen
hands clenched into fisty balls
forehead peeling down
they tell the story of the girl
who forced herself higher than
the sky, so high she floated
above it and just below outer space
stuck in between.

At the sideshow
they bark for me
I welcome
the stares from
the crowd they pull in
telling them
how I believe
I am gold bullion,
when all they see
is a copper penny
now kept under glass
never aging, never going
anywhere.

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/82qjo9/lesprit_de_lescalier/dvcfmk7/ 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/82rhny/unwilling/dvebv44/