Stranger's Sideshow Opera

Stranger's Sideshow Opera

A Poem by joshua deathdealer
"

11/2011 (collaboration with Derek Eliot)

"
Come one, come all
Gather around only to take glimpse
Of stuff that cites all things magical
Come now, before your time begins to slip

small robust figure presents himself upon a cardboard box
Shouting directly into the filthy dirty streets of London
Standing about only up to the height of a waist-high bouldering rock
The little dwarfed man of cunningness wields a large funnel cone
Which projects his deep voice as so it becomes amplified all of a sudden

one and only chance you won't believe with youreyes
A story of fantasy, dragons, andmystics
That'll leave you all but wondering why
A show of mythic wonders,
Wizardry thunder, and cheap blunders
Watch in awe, then gasping in horror
As we welcome you to view
Our sideshow of majestic performers

A small crowd begins to gather from all corners of life
The penniless, tattered, and pointless poor
The strolling stove top hats, a pause in their attention is torn
Now focused keenly upon the show of mysterious blackish brights
Which sits rightly on the street's corner from the merging Denice St. 
And the dark disgusting horror filled walks of Page Ave.'s dimly lit lights

Up ahead in the distancing road
Underneath a bridge, where buyers, sellers
And common knowledge of where dope is knowingly sold
A young boy, roughly age 14
Slings dimebags of methamphetamines
To anyone stopping of course, and announcing the right words to him 
Asking secretly for his merital bag of wonders of wares which he sells

Death passes through eager hands, shaking in anticipation
Woo's and ahh's within a small distant festivity with 
A malodor that rises from trash cluttered gutters
Rising interest and smirks from shadows whom consists of a boy slinging chemicals

Meanwhile, a long dark brown overcoat detective named Daniel Brody
Looks at a newly disposed body, one of the many works of a psychopathic criminal
Whom walks freely within the witching hours of the dark allies of London

It would seem as if Adrian left nothing for us to question this time
The detective amusingly grins with slight disgust in his facial expression
The man which the detective refers to at this gut wrenching scene of a crime
Is the mass murdering raping criminal known as Adrian Piercema
He was caught during a killing of a family of four
But two small children, a little boy and a quiet daughter
Called the police which cuffed him before he knew when to cut loose
And high tail it outta that tragic scene of horror

Detective Brody asks his partner police officer 
Whom accompanied him to the scene of the murder
Alright Thome, in meantime would like to go get a cup of joe
I'm gunna need some time to think this one over

Come one, come all
Gather around folks!
Let me tell you the story
Of the one and only
The Great Cagliostro!

A scraggly and ragged male, young in age
Appears before the crowd
Bowing to their presence 
Tossing out storms' worth of streams of confetti around 
As if his magic were strings of colorful hues 
Of green, red, yellow, and blue

Cagliostro the mystic 
He is a wise wizard of legend indeed
Living upon an enormous mountain 
Up in a castle of great mystery!
The common folk tell us of how that it be
He has lived for 167 years
And hasn't aged not one bit it seems

The little 14 year old boy makes his way home
After a tiring day of marketing drugs for a score
Stepping up the stairs of what looks to be a dilapidating building
A scenery where one ill move could send you with a broken bone
Is marked by a smell of something stenching the air
Like a funny aroma of cat piss on a sofa gone horribly wrong
Rotting it to the core, throughout the structure it stunk

The detective and his fellow law abiding friend
Make their way across the street's end
Coming to a corner where the street show plays
Close to where the scene of the crime is
At least not that far away

The detective says wait a minute
While holding his hot coffee in hand
I wanna see what this show's all about eh 
Sipping his joe at the spectacle before them

The young man Cagliostro then searches through his robe
As if beginning to reveal something from his cloak

The malevolent Emerald Stone

With this jade-like spiritual item
No man will seek nor feel death
Or fall into the abyss 
Which leaves him scared and alone

Cagliostro now steps back
Holding his magic stone as he steps into the background
As if going back into his fortress-like stronghold

Now presenting to you
With the lead role
Bran, the warrior of brute order
Destroyer of all that challenges our WitchKing 
Within the land of Crondor


muscular young man with torn shredded clothes
Steps before the audience
As if his shear weight and foam sword overthrows them enough

Bran has destroyed many monstrosities
At his volunteer duties for his royal witch King
Whom watches over the land
And keeps things as they be
Bran asks of the King
To help save his beautiful wife Aerithia
His dearest, most beloved
Who is now sick 
Dying in deathly illness
Passing on into a eternal sleep


The young boy walks into the sagging structure 
Arriving at the scene of his sick sister
She coughs violently and asks if food is here
But his only reply is no
That the sales didn't go so good
Knowing the extent of their hunger
The young boy tells his sister
Don't worry Amy, I'll be home again soon
Soon enough
He leaves out, leaving his sibling alone in the cold chills of doom

The detective looks over at his partner and tells him
If you wish, you can go on home
I'm gunna head back to the crime scene later
And see if I can figure out some more clues
His partner nods and then begins to walk on
The detective then turns back his attention 
To the colorful display going on

The young man Bran
Kneels down in front of a black robed figure
As if acknowledging his whereabouts 
As if he's within the presence of a higher power

Bran then speaks
Humbly my King, sir
Please aid me in my quest master
I have mutilated and decapitated many loathsome creatures
Bringing relief to your kingdom
I ask of you to please only to return a small favor

The Witch King nods
Then upon Draco you may go
My worthy guardian dragon
Whom will fly you to the Great Cagliostro's 
And his fortress of despair and mishap that are told
There inside these legends of old
Of that we all know

Bran then jumps upon the masked dragon faced being
character performed by several actors beneath a black sheet
Then acting as if they were flying onward
Into the pending showdown 
Which will tell the fate of them all
With all but one outcome to come about

The young kid goes into a grocery store
Picking up a plastic bag then filling it up
To the brim with bread, milk, and cookies
And other things which will make his sister happy
Then 
He turns
Knowing what he must do as he
Watches and studies the store clerk in his moves

The detective knowing it's getting late
Now leaves the sideshow for the crime scene
Lightening up a cigarette
Puffing it with every slow walking step he makes
Working his way through the crowd towards the alleyway
With yellow tape around the once placed mangled body of Brenda Nottingham
Arriving, detective Brody caresses his chin with his fingers
As if to caress a thought within his head as he moves in
To bend over the sad sight, maybe check her pockets with his pen

Bran hurriedly hops off the dragon Draco 
Seemingly knowing he's ontop of what appears to be a castle
Then meticulously, Bran makes gestures
As if he were sneaking down flights of stairs
As if then creeping up to some inner lair
Then finding the one thing he's been searching for
The one thing which will cure his lovely girl Aerithia
And as he grabs it, stuffing it in his waistband
With fireworks and bombs of smoke
Cagliostro appears

The young adolescent now looks to the clerk
And as he turns his back, the boy turns thief and runs
Running for his life as the store clerk dashes out
Chasing him down
Knowing him and his sister's life is at stake
Bumping past and into people, he hurries back to her

Detective Brody has found something
Blood droplets leading away from the corpse's chalked outline
Leading to a manhole which gives way to the sewers
He removes the lid and peers down into the darkness
Shrugging off the fear of anything possibly happening
He puts his foot on the slippery ladder, bracing himself  
Down and casually he climbs, ignoring that methane stench
Holding what part of lunch that he has left
On he goes, through the interconnected tunnel system
Searching for another clue
And then he finds
Adrian Pierceman
Right outta the dark shadowy blue

Cagliostro struggles to get back his magic stone
Shooting violent rays of confetti at Bran
Refusing to give up within his pursuit 
As Bran runs to the top, roaring in triumph 
Making lead with his stolen rock for his love
He finally scrambles back up to the top
Ready to hop upon the back of his trustworthy reptilian stallion

The little boy turns corner
Running into a police officer
Whom snatches him up as the store clerk shouts out his words

Looking down at blood gushing from his stomach
From the nasty cut inflicted by the menacing villain 
Riping out his intestinal lining, detective Brody begins screaming
Sealing his fate within the sewers

Surprises gasps as Draco betrays the warrior 
Snapping Bran in two, actors enveloping him in the black layers
as Bran rolls over lifelessly, hollow eyes looking into the crowd

Cagliostro obtains his treasured green gem
As Draco flies off back to the land
Where his master Witch King is contempt in intent
Knowing of Bran's folly and his failure for hislove
Now resting ontop the castle walls of theGreat Cagliostro
Forever great in death, and no more, noless

The little kid in hesitating desperation
Struggles on, like a rabbit trying to break loose
From it's mouth watering prey
But after a while he stops resisting
Knowing he's already lost
All that was at stake

The detective lays
Bleeding out in the sewers
Knowing what's to be coming
And makes no attempt to struggle on through
And so he sits, struggling to breathe
Coughing on the blood that runs out of his lips of purity
Lighting up another cigarette
Knowing it's his last
In the final hours of where the killer looms
Running around franticly among the homely concrete wastes
Like a mad druid through his woodsy forest home
Chanting out his repetitive haunting lines
Catch me Once, Shame on You

Shame on you good sir
The killer whispers 
Before slashing the detective's throat

And so ends our fairy tale
And so we say goodnight till morning's arise
Sleep on the tragic fate and of
Cagliostro the Great, and Bran the warrior
A story of mythical wonder
A story that has left you
Questioning in horror
But do not fright
For this is only the way that things actually are
And that, that it be
Knowingly casted down from heavens afar
That Life's but a bad joke
And nothing more
...

© 2011 joshua deathdealer


Author's Note

joshua deathdealer
A collaboration write with Derek Eliot. http://www.writerscafe.org/Revik
This is my first time collabing and I had a lot of fun. Thanks Derek, your an amazing writer and thanks to everyone for your support and reviews...xx

My Review

Would you like to review this Poem?
Login | Register




Featured Review

and life is nothing but a bad joke...
this poem is F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S!!!
The way you inter-wove three stories together! i just couldnt believe it! you guys are geniuses! lol
three relishing stories...all three better than the other! your font is as amazing!
words just kept jumping in front of me through the whole poem and i kept jumping on my chair to know more and more! lol
you kept me on the edge till the last line! beautiful concept...and the way you guys dissected the whole stories! even more beautiful!
i would definitely suggest that readers dont read the stories one by one because it would ruin the whole thing...what you should do is...throw your eyes on the screen and read without stopping (just take some gulps in between tragic sentences) and then when reaching the end...relax back and think: ..." life's but a bad joke and nothing more..." with a huge smile on your face!

do i need to say more!? :D

Posted 12 Years Ago


2 of 2 people found this review constructive.




Reviews

WOW. Loved the presentation of this - the mix of carney and narrative, very creative, very entertaining and still chilling to read.

Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

This is really awesome!! excellent piece of writing; something out of the ordinary:-)

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Gentlemen, gentlemen, this is a way the f**k out there piece of writing. At first I thought what in the hell is he thinking, this is a diatribe of fancy and ferry but let me tell you sirs, it is far more than this. It is a revelry in the "joke" that is life. It is a magnificent tale of robbery, debauchery and disguise. It was a joy to read and had me captivated from line one to line last. Positively outstanding work, by both of you...!

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

LoVeD ThIs!

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

This was so-so-I have no clue what to say other than it was crowding my head and screaming the words so loud and coursing through my veins with raw feeling of beinf blown away! The last line echoes in my head and crawls away into the dark, but I'm holding onto it because it is more than just a statement, it's a fact down to the core. Loved this!!

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Amazing stuff....I see my quirky use of fonts is catching on. lol There's so much personality in this, that I really don't know where to begin. Derek told me to give this some attention. And I'm so glad I did. There's one line that seems to wrap up the moral of the story:

That life's but a bad joke
And nothing more.....

Hell if that isn't the truth.....I don't know what is. And it takes a good poet to poke fun at this concept; while not offending some reader. EMF would be proud of you too. 100/100

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

You two killed this! Love the weird font. Love the fresh word choices. Love the strange storyline. It all just works so well. Helluva collab! Damn fine piece.
Favorited.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Interesting graphic font treatment, daring.
This is like Frederico Fellini, meets Frank Miller, meets "In Bruges"
Wild stuff, wild images, complicated storyline.
a collaboration eh? I think the Cohen brother's aren't going to sleep well at night anymore.
Keep writing. Cool stuff.



Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Loved the use of the different fonts and sizes...it tangled the stories beautifully! well written!

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

I LOVED the use of all the different word sizes and fonts and everything! It looks really cool and made me keep reading. LOVE LOVED LOVED this poem honestly i did.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.


First Page first
Previous Page prev
1
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Request Read Request
Add to Library My Library
Subscribe Subscribe


Stats

948 Views
25 Reviews
Rating
Shelved in 2 Libraries
Added on November 5, 2011
Last Updated on November 5, 2011
Tags: opera, show, murder, killer, fantasy, collab

Author

joshua deathdealer
joshua deathdealer

Casket City, FL



About
"My trepidation of things past is not a song with a beginning, middle and end. But an endless symphony playing infinite variations on the same theme. One day of sadness fades into another and the .. more..

Writing

Related Writing

People who liked this story also liked..


Biting Back Biting Back

A Poem by Bubo