142.365 - gifts

the clown head floated in one Sunday afternoon
the sky was mostly clear
thin stringy clouds streamed across it
as if they might make music staves
the clown head swirled and swooped
then dropped down by the stream
out behind the ice cream shop
it smiled and grew and beeped its nose
red, of course, bigger than seemed right
and grew by sunset ten feet tall
grew faster in the moonlight
three stories tall by midnight
allowed as how it was hard to talk that way
chin resting on the ground
but it had been born without a neck
and would just have to make do
the deputies were there by then
watching for any signs of menace
one even had his sixgun drawn
until the sheriff told him
to put his gun away
a little boy called out
asked the clown head what it wanted
the clown head laughed and said
they had it wrong
it had brought gifts
opened wide its mouth and let the lizard out
all six-foot-nine of lizard
walking on hind legs
teetering side to side
scaring mothers and delighting children
the clown head meanwhile
had opened wide again
and let out the pink pony
the black and tan wienerschnauzer
a pint-sized car that rolled
right to the boy who'd asked
a perfectly shaped giraffe only six feet tall
and a snail the size of a Buick
a mushroom floated out next
and hovered just above the ground
big around as a dining room table
and spitting out spores from time to time
the clown head laughed and laughed aloud
then sputtered away like a released balloon
and swooped and swerved into the sky
laughed still as it darted away
leaving children delighted and mesmerized
while the preacher fulminated
against gifts of the devil
and the deputies argued over
what laws had been broken