Saturated in sideshows,

a gauntlet of gimmicks:

plastic pillars molded to mimic

— mock — the grandiosity

of civilized civilizations,

of pirates and Parisians;

circus clowns captured —

even the Flamingo

is fated flightless.

Air suffocated by the anticipation

of gains never met

in a city where memories

are made to forget.

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