Escapology

how fascinating
spectators paying
good money to view
a live art of escape –

a human being
on the centerstage
restrained and confined
ankles locked into a frame
dangled upside down
in a glass tank full of water
gasping for air
with clear and present danger
on the verge of dying
without illusions
suspenseful
his life a fragile thing
with all that staging
cheating death
is reduced to
a mere spectacle
a theatrical occasion
rewarded with ovations