The Carnival

Muhammad Khairul
2 min readSep 4, 2023
Photo by Ethan Hoover on Unsplash

Ride on carousels that rotate around,
Go about in circles but reach no point,
Trapped in a circus ringed by clowns,
Enslaved our lives for mere gold coins;

Bartered our time for drips of honey,
Absorbed in burdens of futile duties,
Served buffoons who worshipped money,
Morbid parasites and the likes of fleas;

Vacate our kingdom for someone else’s,
Building castles that we’ll never own,
Cared for others who served themselves,
Exhausting our bodies to the bone;

To hitch a joyride on the Ferris wheel,
Chased its thrills that led to nowhere,
Performed freakshows exploiting goodwill,
Grotesque horrors of bleak despair;

To find ourselves amongst the troupes,
Walked on tightropes like the acrobats,
Jumped through hurdles and fiery hoops,
Received false ovations, cheers and claps;

Life is the amusement we agreed upon,
Cosmic humour of grandeur proportions,
Actors on stage with roles to perform,
Are we sentient without a conscience?

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Muhammad Khairul
Muhammad Khairul

Written by Muhammad Khairul

The color silver in a monochrome world. I write poetry to shed unique perspectives on the collective unconscious. https://thehermitcollective.substack.com/

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