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the high diver
takes off her cape
in the stars.
Arizona Zipper
street carnival
repeating my mother’s name
for the psychic
Efren Estevez
the bearded lady
hangs her wash
against the wind
Alan Pizzarelli
tightrope walker
even her smile
balanced
Steve Dolphy
the beauty queen
consults her mirror
to select a smile
Keith A. Simmonds
300-pound guy
in drag
the eternal optimist
Michael McClintock
Weight lifter
slowly lifting
the tea cup
Garry Gay
the fire eater
praises the chef’s
burnt cutlet
Jörgen Johansson
thigh to thigh
the movie star
and her mastiff
Arizona Zipper
Sideshow —
the two-headed baby
turns out to be a calf.
Alexis Rotella
the rubberband man
stretches in-between
his sidewalk acts
Alan Pizzarelli
in the sideshow
the mummified mermaid
looks fishy
Cor van den Heuvel
crowded beach —
a tattoo’d momma in
a bikini I think
Carol Raisfeld
carried from the car
the ventriloquist’s dummy
looks around
Alan Pizzarelli
Company coming
Uri Geller unbends
the spoons
Carlos Colón
conjoined newborns
one given a soother
both stop crying
Garry Eaton
Still skeptical of the hypnotist,
he walks away
on all fours.
Alan Pizzarelli
the great clown
sweeps & sweeps the spotlight
into nothing
Anita Virgil
Credits:
Cover photograph: J.T. Doyle with fire, ca. 1902, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Graphic design by Donna Beaver.
“The high diver” from Fryeburg Fair, copyright © 1987 by Arizona Zipper; by permission of the author;
“In the sideshow” from Bottle Rockets, Vol. 10, Number 2, copyright © 2009 by Cor van den Heuvel; by permission of the author.
“Sideshow” from Looking for a Prince, White Peony Press, copyright © 1991 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.
“the rubberband man” & “carried from the car” from The Flea Circus, islet books, copyright © 1989 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.
Special Issue Note:
For continuity and theme, the following senryu are reprinted from the SH SENRYU archives: “tightrope walker” by Steve Dolphy, “300-pound guy” by Michael McClintock, “crowded beach” by Carol Raisfeld, “conjoined newborns” by Garry Eaton, “Company coming” by Carlos Colón, “Weight lifter” by Garry Gay, “street carnival” by Efren Estevez and “the great clown” by Anita Virgil.
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Toy Instructions:
< Click >
on the domino, the teapot, the little doll, the big doll,
and the marble.
Batteries not included.
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he heard my brother died,
and buried a toy soldier
in his yard.
Nicholas A. Virgilio
Barbie
in her dream house
with no back
Carol Raisfeld
Ken doll
his chiffon dress
Carlos Colón
robot dog—
the boy with the lisp yells,
sit!
Carol Raisfeld
toy instructions
i come
unglued
Ed Markowski
high school stairwell
a Slinky from the third floor
to the principal
Carlos Colón
reaching for
the wind-up toy
it rides off the table
Alan Pizzarelli
around the world
and into the next
broken yo-yo string
Carlos Colón
Selling bride dolls,
the woman
with bruises.
Alexis Rotella
After falling down,
she asks for a bandaid
for her doll too
Garry Gay
the abused child
arranges her dolls
in a perfect row
Pamela A. Babusci
women’s shelter —
her daughter’s doll sleeps
with one eye open
Chad Robinson
low battery
the Chatty Cathy
sings bass
Carol Raisfeld
we play
peekaboo
through the windows
of your toy bus
Anita Virgil
Once this box
of toys
was my whole life.
Alexis Rotella
Unable to decide
which balloon to pick
she begins to cry.
Arizona Zipper
too soon
the little one's balloon
lost to the wide sky
Anita Virgil
Credits:
Toy photographs copyright © 2009 by Jennifer V. Gurchinoff. Layout and Design, Donna Beaver.
"Silent Witness Doll” photograph, National Park Service, currently on exhibit at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia. Background photograph, Knickerbocker parlor, Metropolitan Fair, New York City, ca. 1864, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Graphic design by Donna Beaver.
“he heard my brother died,” (previously unpublished) by Nicholas Virgilio, appears here for the first time; by permission of Tony Virgilio.
“Ken doll” from Nothing Inside, a Linked Poem by Alexis K. Rotella and Carlos Colón. Aylmer, Quebec: proof press, copyright © 1996 by Carlos Colón.
“Selling bride dolls” and “Once this box” from OUCH: Senryu That Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.
“After falling down” from Haiku World, William J. Higginson, editor, Kodansha, copyright © 1996 by Garry Gay; by permission of the author.
“reaching for” from The Flea Circus, islet books, copyright © 1989 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.
“Unable to decide” from Fryeburg Fair, copyright © 1987 by Arizona Zipper; by permission of the author.
Special Issue Note:
For continuity and theme, the following senryu are reprinted from the SH SENRYU archives: “toy instructions” by Ed Markowski, “woman’s shelter” by Chad Robinson, “Unable to decide” by Arizona Zipper, “the abused child”, by Pamela A. Babusci and “we play” by Anita Virgil.
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