She Loved the Circus

I didn’t open the little brown package
On the day it arrived
In it the purse of my grandmother
Sealed in this box on the day she died

I put it on the kitchen table
Canary yellow, robin-egg-blue striped
I saw myself in the shiny brass buckle
Opened it up and looked inside

There was a picture of my mother
When she was just a child
A pencil and some paper
A silver fingernail file
Among these things
The lipstick and the rouge
Was a ticket to the circus
On some long-ago Saturday afternoon

She loved the circus
She loved the circus
The clowns and the elephants
The sword swallower too

She loved the circus
She loved the circus
My grandmother loved the circus
I never knew

While I sat there
I closed my eyes and dreamt
I was sitting with her
Under a big top tent
She bought me peanuts
I bought her a big red balloon
We were laughing
On some long-ago Saturday afternoon

She loved the circus
She loved the circus
The handsome ringmaster
The lady on the flying trapeze

She loved the circus
She loved the circus
My grandmother loved the circus
Just like me