The sales are brisk, For cross-eyed lovers, Cross-hearted, lost, Beneath the spinning constellations Burning immortal exhalations, Desiring forever oxytoxic bliss, Burning ******* and hearts Yearn longevity of stars....
PT Barnum saw his opportunity: Sold cotton candy, Hawked elephants, Gawked dwarves, Hid the razors from Fierce bearded ladies, Even sold the elephants' dung, Provender to exotic gardens....
Barnum's packing up The Pachyderms, So Hawkers have us Gazing on the stars....
"Step right up! See the stars!" Purchase your fire in the sky! Your lover's name, Fixed in the firmamentΒ Β A million years!
At least the cotton candy And the elephant dung Served some earthy, earthly good, Paid dentists' children's college, Fertilized the family food.
So now go claim a distant star, A million, billion miles away, Its light must make its journey A thousand years or more To greet your eyes, and yet, Your lover's sighs predict A hundred dollars' better spent Than on a good Chablis, Cementing mortal love in Distant stars so permanent, Visited through telescopic glass Atop our rented tenements.