Denouement Villanelle

The telegram says you have gone away

And left our bankrupt circus on its own;

There is nothing more for me to say.

The maestro gives the singing birds their pay

And they buy tickets for the tropic zone;

The telegram says you have gone away.

The clever woolly dogs have had their day

They shoot the dice for one remaining bone;

There is nothing more for me to say.

The lion and the tigers turn to clay

And Jumbo sadly trumpets into stone;

The telegram says you have gone away.

The morbid cobra's wits have run astray;

He rents his poisons out by telephone;

There is nothing more for me to say.

The colored tents all topple in the bay;

The magic saw dust writes: address unknown.

The telegram says you have gone away;

There is nothing more for me to say.