Carnival Crown

I
Morning awakens in ribbons of light,
Drums stir the breath of the slumbering street,
The sun dons a mask burning golden and bright,
And dances its fire in jubilant beat.
Laughter ascends like a banner in air,
Through feathers and pigments that shimmer and call—
Joy proclaims boldly, beyond all compare:
This day is the kingdom of Carnival.

II
Masks may conceal, yet spirits reveal
A thousand untold constellations of flame;
Each footstep becomes a revolving wheel
Of rhythm no silence could ever reclaim.
Echoes of centuries rise from the square,
Songs long forgotten awaken in all,
And even the hush bends close to declare
Its fealty sworn to Carnival.

III
Costumes erupt into blossoms of fire,
Sequins ignite every wandering gaze;
No form repeats, yet all conspire
To weave a labyrinth dazzling with blaze.
The wind itself sways in luminous spin,
Intoxicated by rapture’s enthrall,
As though it too longed to be counted within
The sacred procession of Carnival.

IV
The aged grow youthful in sudden delight,
The child wears a crown of imaginary gold;
No shadow of sorrow, no fragment of night
Survives where the banners of merriment hold.
Time loosens chains from its tyrannous hand,
Care lets its stern citadel crumble and fall,
For grief finds no refuge, nor sorrow a stand
Inside the dominion of Carnival.

V
The floats drift slowly like vessels of dream
Across a bright ocean of jubilant cries,
Where paper stars flicker and bright streamers gleam,
Reflecting astonishment deep in all eyes.
Trumpets ignite and the cymbals resound,
Drums roll like thunder in jubilant squall,
Till every heart joins in the resonant sound
And sings with the pulse of Carnival.

VI
Confetti descends like a festival snow,
A storm of delight that the heavens release,
Each glittering fragment a luminous glow
That crowns every brow with a diadem’s peace.
The street is transformed to a radiant stream,
A river of brilliance no will can forestall,
Where waking existence dissolves into dream
On tides that belong to Carnival.

VII
From doorways of shadow the evening looks on,
Impatient to enter in jewels of flame;
She longs to be clad like the riotous dawn
And dance in the blaze of the torches’ acclaim.
Twilight stands veiled in expectant desire,
Enchanted and hushed by the musical call,
Awaiting her moment to rise and conspire
As co-sovereign queen with Carnival.

VIII
A kiss veiled in silk of a glittering guise,
A laugh without owner, a whisper unnamed,
A spark leaping wild between glances and eyes
That sets even darkness itself half-inflamed.
The stars lean low from their crystalline height,
Spellbound spectators of earth’s mortal ball,
And scatter their blessing of silvered light
To crown the dominion of Carnival.

IX
An unseen monarch of revelry reigns,
His sceptre a rhythm, his mantle a song;
He governs the multitude’s glittering veins
And summons their spirits to whirl and belong.
He raises his hand — every dancer takes wing;
He turns — and the drums like a tempest enthrall;
As though all creation were destined to sing:
“All glory and praise to Carnival!”

X
Lanterns tremble like fruit made of flame
Suspended on branches of night’s velvet tree;
Their glow seems to pause the swift hours that came
And bind fleeting moments in still ecstasy.
A unity rare fills the luminous throng,
No walls remain standing, no hearts stand small,
For thousands of souls now are fused into one
Within the bright empire of Carnival.

XI
At last the last cadence descends into air,
The laughter grows softer, the music grows mild;
The song folds its wings with a lingering care
And slips from the sight of the crowd it beguiled.
Yet glitter remains like a memory’s trace,
A shimmer that clings to the dusk-painted wall,
A radiant ghost of a vanished embrace
That once bore the crown of Carnival.

XII
And when sober morning returns once again
With quieted footsteps and unadorned sky,
No trumpets resound through the thoroughfare then,
No plumes like bright comets go blazing on high.
Still deep in the chambers of every heart’s core
A spark will awaken, immortal and tall—
The ember that burns evermore and once more:
The secret-born fire of Carnival.