Dumbo - James Franco

Dumb is me,
As a young elephant I was shy,
From too much attention,
So, speak I didn't.

A young animal:
At age thirteen, life plunked
Me down in junior high,
Like Dumbo in circus.

As I grew,
Isolation followed me
And the only recourse
Was to drink with the clowns.

Pink elephants 
Paraded and sloshed 
Through my youth 
Until I became a sinister clown,

With a smile painted
So thick
I looked mad-happy, always.
And I never flew,

I never flew.

From Straight James/Gay James, 2016.