The Bucket Man

I saw the Bucket Man today,

Upside down, his head in his bucket,

his arms folded tight

to entertain the crowd.

“It’s my living”, his sign says,

“puts a roof over my head”.

Such focus and fitness,

such determination,

such imagination,

such creativity.

Will it lead him him 

to a different place,

one day,

this man and his bucket?

And what if his parents were wealthy

and had sent him to Eton or Harrow,

What then for the Bucket Man?

Such focus and fitness,

such determination,

such imagination,

such creativity.

Would it lead to a different place

for this man and his bucket?

But he does well, it seems.

And for every coin in the bucket

there’s a ‘thank you’ and

a thumbs up from an arm

released from it’s fold.

He’s a popular entertainer,

on facebook now and Twitter.

So, what if one day his head

meets up with the treasure in his bucket?

Will he kick his bucket away

and pay

to send his kids to Eton or Harrow,

What then for the Bucket Man,

would he still have his head 

in a bucket, screwed on tight,

or up in the clouds?

And what if he falls, or his body

says ‘Hey, I’m not designed

to work upside down’.

Will his bucket be kicked away from him?

What then for the Bucket Man?

What then for all the ‘bucket men’?

First published by Ealain in Issue 11, ‘What If’

http://www.magzter.com/ZA/MPA-Publishing/Ealain/Art/124528?