The Last Show

The stage was so spectacular I had to wear my glasses.
They only let a handful in with extraordinary passes;
written in a scripted font and lined with foiled gold,
for those of us who had one, they were something to behold.

The gullible sat waiting for the buffoonery to start;
the ratings in the papers were completely off the chart.
Some had heard of wonder, that it cured them of depression;
many left in disbelief; it made quite an impression.

The crowd began to stir with a ubiquitous roar of chatter,
every person in the house was pondering the matter,
when suddenly the room went dark and everyone was still.
With widened eyes and racing heart, I hoped it’d fit the bill.

A man appeared larger than life amid a frightening scene,
his head was framed in rising flames that billowed smokey green.
He shouted at the crowd and we all shuddered as he glared,
he asked a volunteer to approach if any of us dared.

A dreadful fright took hold of us as we all sat there in fear,
my spine seemed to be paralyzed while others shed a tear.
The air became uncomfortable as the man began to rage,
and that is when a young girl stood and walked toward the stage.

The crowd let out a gasp as she climbed the center stairs.
We hoped that she would stop as we stayed glued to our chairs.
She stood before the giant man who said with a deep voice:
“Who sent you to me?” and she replied, “I come to you by choice.”

While several of us fainted, the man became perplexed.
He seemed to lose control and suddenly was vexed.
This wasn’t what he planned and the show was off the script,
he stuttered and he stammered as the situation flipped.

“How dare you show me disrespect!” he said through smokey haze,
but the young girl stood in bold defiance of his fiery blaze.
She spoke to him with empathy and stared with caring eyes,
“I think this front you’ve shown to us is nothing more than lies.”

He couldn’t think of what to say, she’d called him on his bluff,
the tension cracking through the room was now more than enough;
the man let out a tired gasp as the smoke and flame went out,
he softened up his voice with no more reason left to shout.

“You’re right,” he said in solemn tones,”You’ve seen through my disguise,
I’ve never had this happen though I’ve had so many tries.”
“My audience is always credulous and willing to believe,
they never wonder whether I have something up my sleeve.”

The girl said with a gleaming smile “I’m skeptical of mind,”
The man told her he wasn’t mean and wanted to be kind.
He turned to the astounded crowd and said “I’m from Topeka”
and ended the last show he did by shouting out “Eureka!”