<p>In the poetry chapbook <em>The Fire Eater and the Bearded Lady</em> the reader is invited into the world of an old-time circus/sideshow. Each poem is in the persona and voice of various circus performers both human and animal employees and spectators&mdash;who are also complicit in the acts they see. From roustabout to elephant lion tamer to clown the circus exposes us all.</p>