The Clown

The earliest footage I have, he is without greasepaint.
He treats the stage more like a reception desk than a slalom.
In black and white, he describes his visit to the asylum
and how he was pursued when mistaken for a patient.

He's in his early thirties. His joke about a hair museum
goes down well. Of course, that was - '65?
Since then, he has played love god, reject, prophet slave,
always with a bamboo cane and a mumbled 'Carpe Diem'.

In the latest film I've seen, he is slightly crooked.
Still no greasepaint. He relies on his trusted tactic -
but then, we don't grow tired of his emotional slapstick.
It's as if this crumbling clown - this ghost of an orchid -

has been planning for his old age, and planning well.
His voice can still carry all the notes in 'Chelsea Hotel'.