Jessica
Original Text:
What the Carney Says
I may not be flexible, agile, or strong, but damn
if I can’t spot a sucker at twenty feet. I crow to him,
loud enough for the whole midway to hear, but really,
I speak to him. I strut on my soapbox, suggest
the existence of miracles and mysteries never seen
before this day or time. I lie. I advertise
two-headed horses, bearded ladies, and Siamese twins. I give him
a poorly lit tent, a voluptuous man with a five o’clock shadow,
siblings so close they hold hands under their costume.
I trade in illusion and expectation and I offer
disappointment in return. This is the way of the world:
Buyer beware. Don’t believe everything you hear. Learn
to be satisfied with your lot in life. There are no mysteries
that cannot be solved. No miracles, but the hot smell
of sawdust and horse shit, and the feeling of a woman burying
her face in your shoulder at the sight of horse with a dummy head.
***
The beauty of a video camera is that I can shoot video with only the sense of what I plan on doing with it.
While on vacation in Madison this week, my father and I visited The House on the Rock. For those of you who do not live in the Upper Midwest, HOTR is a large house/museum turned tourist trap built by a reclusive eccentric named Alex Jordan. The rooms include (but are *not* limited to), an indoor carousel, a replica of a 19th century street, an ocean room with a plaster whale, a doll house and more. It is filled to the gills with Jordan’s collections of stuff, from antique lighters to marionettes. It is deeply cool and deeply creepy. Even though I spent five years (during college) living near HOTR, I never visited. I missed out. For an interesting perspective on HOTR, I recommend reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, as the location figures prominently in the plot.
At the HOTR, I began shooting video of the music machines and indoor carousel, all designed by Jordan. When I returned, I realized that the video would make an interesting backdrop for my poem “What the Carney Says.” After a little tinkering and voice recording, my very first video poem was born. My hope is that others will follow, as I continue to experiment with my new toy.
