Through the eyes of children, everything is bigger and brighter. Bring them to a circus or carnival and fantasy comes to life. Floating high in the air while holding a balloon seems possible. Cotton candy looks like a fluffy pink mountain. The circus is a magical place and the carnival, a colorful party in a fairy land. Their eyes light up with a sense of wonder around every corner.
Life isn’t always a carnival (sometimes it can be a circus), but we can observe beauty in the world with a kids-eye-view. Let’s not lose our sense of childlike wonder. The world sparkles a little more because of it.
Poet Shel Silverstein certainly kept his kids-eye-view when he wrote poetry and stories. His quirky and conversational style made poetry accessible to children and grown-ups alike. Shel had a way of seamlessly commingling humor and philosophy throughout his written work, as in this circus-themed poem:
I’ll swing
By my ankles,
She’ll cling
To your knees
As you hang
By your nose
From a high-up
Trapeze.
Just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze—
Don’t sneeze.
Try It
This week, ignore any suggestions to “grow up.” Grab hold of your opportunity to be as childish as you like. Think back on a time you visited a circus or carnival. As an alternative, imagine being a child right now and pick which wonder-fest you’ll visit. Write a poem about your kids-eye-view experience. After you share your poem with us in the comments section, feel free to put it on your fridge. 🙂
And remember: don’t eat too many sweets or you’ll get a tummy ache.
Featured Poem
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s an untitled poem we enjoyed from Monica Sharman:
My balancing act is more along the lines
of a cirque de la lune.
But it’s not just a phase, this teetering
on taut wires, arms outstretched
to flailing, less counterbalance than
oscillation from one off-kilter to another.
Craters and peaks eclipsed
by stage-light shadows
never revealing the far side.
Photo by Marco Monetti, Creative Commons via Flickr.
Browse more Circus & Carnival poems
Browse more writing prompts
Browse poetry teaching resources
- Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
- Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
- Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018
Monica Sharman says
Thanks so much for featuring my poem, and especially for the prompts. I feel a need to not grow up. 🙂
Heather Eure says
Sometimes we need to let our inner kid out to play. 🙂
Robbie Pruitt says
Grace’s Carousel
The painted horses
leap forward in unison.
Some go up and some down,
circling to the music
as lights glisten—
shining and shimmering—
reflecting off the mirrored glass.
I look to see the reflection
of Grace’s smiling face,
her wonder at it all,
her joy at the rise and fall.
“Ride the horsey!
I want to ride the horsey!”
Again! Again!”
© August 31, 2015, Robbie Pruitt
Heather Eure says
Just lovely, Robbie. Your perspective is delightful.
“I look to see the reflection
of Grace’s smiling face,
her wonder at it all,
her joy at the rise and fall.”
I can relate to Grace’s enthusiasm. When the state fair comes, believe me, I will be on the carousel. Maybe more than once. I’ll be the one with cotton candy stuck to my hair.
Robbie Pruitt says
Thank you very much Heather!
I enjoy the festivities of a good fair or carnival as well, but now more than ever through Grace’s eyes.
nancy marie davis says
no catten candy
where’s the elerant?
no cortee candy
where’s the elphapants?
i don’t like the elmarants.
i want carton candy
SimplyDarlene says
ha!
Heather Eure says
That sounds like a few kids I know, Nancy! 🙂
Monica Sharman says
It’s not a photo prompt, but I have photos! Now to write the poem . . .
https://www.flickr.com/photos/monica-sharman/20908157960/
L. L. Barkat says
Ooooo. So cute!! 🙂
Heather Eure says
Look at the joy on that face! You can add photos anytime, Monica. Anytime. 🙂
Monica Sharman says
Okay, here’s a poem to go with the photos. I was so tempted to mention something about 1970s clothing, but I didn’t. 🙂
Carousel Cowgirl
Organ music starts slow . . .
ramps up as the spinning
little girl
curls her fingers
round the spiraled post
just
like
a real cowgirl
with her grinning
silver pony and pretend
leather Stetson
in that one hand
hanging loose,
blurry world whizzing,
yaaah-hooing
right along
with every up
and every down
Simply Darlene says
“three montana summer nights in a row”
after horses & bulls & barrels
cleared, crash ’em cars clanked &
banged, then the cheap 3-ring circus
set down – cotton candy and too tall
sodas sugar-spazzed
young ones across fair ground
stands. grandpas whispered
harsh commands in pulled close
ears. holding sticky hands they
clenched tight jaws – trying
to keep kids and dentures in place.
Heather Eure says
“…trying to keep kids and dentures in place.” HAHA! I snort-laughed after reading the last line.
Andrew H says
The Elephants that are Real
I know the elephants upon the wheel aren’t real,
Just stick out cut outs on the floor,
But looking down – oh, on looking down –
My child saw them, and he believed
And something deep inside me thought them real.
Cotton candy stretched in a line – “pink froth
From some old rainbow stream
Which tumbles over rocks and acrobatic lines,”
I told my son –
He looked, and how his eyes did dream!
Bright colours, silly wigs of twisted yarn
And we go on, oh ever on
‘Neath twirling figures, suspended men –
“You know they’re catching stars up there,
To help the ever coming dawn?”
He laughed. I did not think the elephants real
But looking through his eyes, they are.
Why not, why no magic for all of us?
See how they roll and tumble in our minds!
The best diversion, glowing circus star!