Photo by Clare Coco
A double Sestina
Summer barely gave way to fall the year
snows filled up the Truckee mountain pass
and was the sun’s first day in Sagittarius,
in San Carlos, Mexico, one thousand miles away,
That the stars bode well the birth of tiny Lucia Zarate
No bigger than a mouse was she, yet live she might.
Elephant ballerinas and ripped men of great might
The Big Top swept her up in her twelfth year,
the greatest star of small dimensions, Dona Lucia Zarate
The girl remembered less of her home as time did pass
She dined with carnies and wiled her nights away
with freaks born under the sign of Sagittarius.
But JoJo, the dog-faced boy, was not a Sagittarius,
in this, he differed from the tiny General Mite
And, he stole the fair puppet girl's heart away.
Still, Barnum planned a miniature wedding in a year.
Imaginary engagements could never pass
for love as that between JoJo and Lucia Zarate
Step up for the nuptials of the Pygmy Lucia Zarate!
General admission to bans of these Sagittarians.
The wedding invitation is your circus pass!
Eat cake, catch bouquet or garter, any guest might!
For Barnum’s take in smalls is big this year!
Until the night Lucia and Jojo run away.
And on the night Lucia and Jojo ran away.
The dog-faced boy pledges himself to Lucia Zarate
They make a pact to marry in a year.
Back at the big top, the freaks and Sagittarians,
keep company with the jilted General Mite
and promise him his heartbreak soon would pass.
Touring alone, Dona Lucia travels Truckee Mountain Pass.
Locals and miners dig for days to clear the avalanche away.
Many souls were saved by God's wisdom and his might.
and engine steams forward, onboard is the lifeless Lucia Zarate
It whistles away under the Harvest Moon in Sagittarius.
Then, Jojo, the dog-faced boy, left the sideshow for a year.
For freaks and oddities through this world will pass, exhibited but unseen,
as Lucia Zarate might have, born in the year of the Cock, or in the sign of Sagittarius.
Jojo (the dog-faced boy) was born on the cusp of Aquarius;
he lived his life in places where it was cool to be a freak,
like Province Town, the Circus, and glittery New York City.
Jojo played the fiddle and raised homing doves.
He spoke Russian and several other languages.
Jojo made his living as a freak who knew better than most,
that the oddest people are more ordinary than most
This makes sense to him in this bizarre age of Aquarius
and in a world where differences transcend language.
Jojo thinks about his grandfather in love with the tiniest freak
Named for his grandpa, Jojo and Donna Lucia, his two favorite doves.
He launched them with his desires into the city.
The pair carry Jojo’s intention to the dawning city
as if wings bear magic and impart enchantment most.
Upon the slanted eaves of love and possibility lit the doves.
Above a granite statue of the water-bearing Aquarius,
In time, Jojo and his intended will recall this day as a freak
that love is spoken in such unspoken languages.
For who and how we love is a private language
of country birds or those from New York City,
and complete love does not make Jojo a freak
knowing love means Jojo is more fortunate than most
But even in this new age of open-minded Aquarius,
Some hate the feathers and freedom of such doves.
The hearts of lovers tremble like the hearts of doves,
as desperately they search for an expressive language,
love can hide the truth or bear it like an Aquarius
especially when the moon hangs in Scorpio in the city,
and the one you cannot have is who you want the most,
circumstance to make an ordinary man freak.
Jojo, the-dog-faced-boy, some thought he was a freak,
He built his nest with extraordinary and colorful doves,
His blood was red, and his heart was purer than most.
He pledged both in many ways and several languages,
Jojo gave up his home and fled the bustling city
to be with his one true love in the age of Aquarius.
Some wonder at the freak happenstance of love in many languages. Or, doves finding a way back to the city when return is lost to most. Perhaps their wings recall a granite statue of water-bearing Aquarius?
