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.