• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Diaspora Dialogues

Diaspora Dialogues

Supporting new fiction, poetry, and drama

Donate

Social Links Widget

  • Our Programs
    • Mentorship
    • Professional Development
    • TOK Magazine
    • FAQs
  • Our Writers
    • Mentors
    • Mentees
    • Writers Spotlight
  • News & Events
    • Events
    • Writers Spotlight
    • Media
    • Monthly Newsletters
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • The Board
    • Our Allies
    • Contact Us

Circus

dd
Marni Van Dyk
July 30, 2011
Share Tweet Share

As soon as I saw him leaning up against the tent’s support wires, his shoulders hunched to keep the rain out of his collar, I knew he’d be the photograph that would make the cover that month. I had ducked out of the tent during the trapeze show because my camera couldn’t catch the Kravitz sisters at the speed they flew across the ring. The day was dissolving and I wanted to try to capture the red and gold striped tent as the fog slinked onto the muddy circus grounds.

When I noticed Jimmy, he was smoking a limp, hand-rolled cigarette. He held it tight up to his lips as he sucked what was left of it into his small chest. His other hand clenched a fistful of tired paper flowers. He wore an old bowler hat and a tuxedo that was a throwback to the vaudeville style, with tattered black tails and a slice of red silk peeking out of his breast pocket. He shifted his weight from side to side, making loud sucking noises as he lifted his feet from the mud. The thick white paint on his face was beginning to run down the lines in his cheeks.

Published in TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 5. Purchase the book to read the full piece.

PreviousNext

Filed Under: Book 5, Excerpts Tagged With: Book 5, excerpt, Marni Van Dyk, TOK

Footer

Our Programs

  • – Mentorship
  • – Professional Development
  • – TOK Magazine
  • – FAQs

Our Writers

  • – Mentees
  • – Mentors
  • – Writers Spotlight

News & Events

  • News
  • Events

About

  • – Our Team
  • – Board of Directors
  • – Our Allies
  • – Contact Us

Donate Now
Top