"They Sent In The Clowns..."

And in the twilight on the City Walls, this clown was there. This clown was pale, he was serious.
And as we passed, he stared and he watched. His stillness was complete.
So we paused, several of us, and we stopped and we touched his silence with our own.
And our voices faded and the light crept away from the Walls and the night came.

We saw lanterns, willow ones, gleaming from trees as we wended our way and spirits danced in silver shrouds and children acted plays by Abbey Street and we saw patterns made with ultra violet sand. And as we walked, jugglers played with fire and giant mushrooms swayed and rolled and coloured lights flickered at the edge of the Dean's Field.And all the while, candlewax spiders wove webs in stark black trees.
AND there was more:
At the Bell Tower, black and white memories dangled on string and families with sleepy toddlers and giggling teenagers added their own and by the Town Hall, women with lovely faces tottered on stilts, preened their reflections in pavement puddles as they swirled their gorgeous skirts.
Below the Walls, near Northgate, men in dinnersuits made music with bottle tops and teachests and umbrellas....and people smiled and people clapped and the rain clouds never, thankfully, came...
And then at King Charles Tower, a woman sat, dressed in white, purple hollows around haunted eyes...wreathed in her own quiet thinking. So the child beside me shuddered and her mother took her hand in hers and whispered:" She's lovely, Lucy.The lady's lovely" so Lucy smiled and I knew she'd remember the image for ever....

This was "Up The Wall": a celebration of the City Walls ( light, sound, theatre) organised this w/end by "Chester Performs". This is a new organisation dedicated to developing the performing arts in Chester. Hopefully, more of the same to come.