Circuses

Imagine your mother somersaulting 
down cellar steps


seeing what looks like the shadow of a dove
from the corner of your eye


these things are unusual
they could unsettle a kid


so you ask her, ‘what the fuck was that?’


she tells you not to swear
says she was only dancing 

that she slipped and lost her bearings


and now your father has disappeared
without a puff of smoke


all night you dream of circuses