Not My Monkey, Not My Circus

Life is a three ring circus

On a good day

It’s just the three rings

The performances are flawless

The animals obedient

Blue skies and cotton candy

But it’s still a circus

On the not-so-perfect days

And let’s face it

If your lucky

You get maybe three perfect days

A year

And on those

Less-than-stellar days

The clowns are creepy

Their car has a flat

You’re knee deep

In elephant dung

The ringmaster

Is riding the bareback performer

The tigers have eaten the poodles

And the number of rings

Has become infinite

I used to let

Every little thing

Annoy the fuck

Outta me

Until I learned

Two things

The first being

That everyone has issues

And by issues I mean

Fears and struggles and insecurities

In addition to the everyday stuff

Like bills and kids

Coworkers and family members

We all have pet peeves

And character flaws

Idiosyncrasies

And last straws

But the other thing I learned

Is that I don’t

Have to let

Every little thing

Get to me

I need to remember

That you have a monkey

On your back

Just like me

So I’m going to

Try to not add to your stresses

But I certainly don’t

Have to let you

Or your monkey

Become my monkey

I’ve worked really hard

To shrink

My own monkey

Down to a size

Where I can

Pick him up

Off my back

And tuck him in my pocket

I’ve learned to deal with

Just one ring of my circus of a life

At a time

So while I’ll gladly help you

If asked

To assist you in your stunts

Or crack the whip

At the beasts in your life

I’m getting pretty good

At sticking

To my own tent

And if you notice

A bemused smile

Creep onto my face

While you are in the throes

Of a dramatic moment

It’s because I’m reminding myself

That you are

Not my monkey

And not my circus