Circus shows once filled with excitement to delight

Few spectators now attend circus magic each night

 

Generation ago, numerous children experienced it all

Now mighty Big Tops have vanished with a huge fall

 

Sitting in the crowd with a perfect seat

Thrilled to adore another tasty treat

 

The ringmaster keeps the thrilling show moving along

Audiences soon realize that each act lasts only so long

 

Three rings keep crowd’s enthusiasm mounting with ease

Here come zany clowns, filled with foolishness to please

 

Dazzling jugglers and daring acrobats delight

Children dream of being in the circus spotlight

 

Sitting in the crowd with a perfect seat

Eagerly watching performances so sweet

 

Lions, tigers, and bears—Oh, what a sight to behold

Bravery shown by animal tamers, awesome and bold

 

Always pleasing are gigantic elephants from afar

Their majestic presence makes them the stars

 

Evening’s ultimate act flies high above three circus rings

Trapeze artists dangle with suspense from their swings

 

Sitting in the crowd with a perfect seat

Looking forward to each astonishing feat

 

Fewer circus companies still travel the globe

The “Greatest Show on Earth” needed to fold

 

Audiences once filled the Big Top’s nightly crusade

Now dying out, precious memories stumble and fade

 

New generation of young children shall never wonder

How circus night brought applause as loud as thunder

 

Sitting in the crowd with a perfect seat

Recalling circus images that will repeat

 

The “Greatest Show on Earth” shut down its operations in 2017 due to declining attendance and revenue shortfalls.  The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was, without a doubt, the greatest circus show of them all.  As a footnote, John Ringling, one of the circus-owning brothers, arrived in a small town in central Montana in the early 1900s.   He planned to invest in cattle ranching and a local railroad.  The tiny, quiet hamlet of Ringling is still on the map today along U.S. Highway 89, but you would never know that it can trace some of its history back to the “Greatest Show on Earth.”