My Circus - By: Maya Ozo
At age 1, I was given a lion
A protector armed with determination
By age 2, I got a clown
He made it so that it was difficult for me to frown
By ages 3-5 , I got a showman
I was taught confidence that shall never be
broken
By ages 6-8, I got an acrobat
A guide for me to be able to balance myself flat
By ages 9-10, I got an
audience
Possessing kind words and actions, a
supportive attitude, and patience
By age 11, I got a trampolinist
Teaching me generosity by being generous
with his jumps and twists
By ages 12-13, I got an elephant
A loving creature; so flamboyant
I had a whole circus which told me I could be
whomever I wanted to be
By age 14, the circus had left me
I had a whole circus
Otherwise known as my Dad, was it obvious?
As eccentric as he may be
He is the most important man to me
Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.:
The main idea is to showcase the different characters my Dad was and is to me. Over the years of my growing up, I saw these characteristics he possessed and it resembled a circus for me, so I made the connection.
Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.:
My thought process for writing this poem was that I wanted the readers to know how kind and great my Dad was, without truly knowing him. It was important for me to tell the readers about the roles he took for me and my siblings and the values he taught me. I wanted there to be structure to the poem and have it sort of "storytell" my Dad's personality.
Why did you choose to write this poem?:
I chose to write this poem as an outlet for my grief. I wanted to recall my good memories of him and tell the readers about the great man they missed out on not knowing. It helped me stabilize my emotions and reduce my confusion, which is one of the big reasons I am very passionate about writing.