They were the Flying Graysons - the headlining act at Haly's circus of old,
They were trapeze artists so death defying it'd make your blood run cold,
Dick Grayson was their son who'd been into acrobatics since he was a child,
Lean and mean he was an adrenaline machine that at sixteen ran so wild.

John and Mary love their son but the routines he dreamed up were fearful,
And there'd often be tears and tantrums over the dangerous stunts that he'd pull,
But he liked living on the dark side and nothing short of brushes with death,
Would leave the handsome circus lad laughing and hyped, being out of breath.

His body is all muscle and he's old beyond his years there's no doubt,
But often he wants to run before he can walk - that's what the trouble's about,
He's cocky and brash and he acts too rash, impulsive in both love and life,
Knows what he desires, lights lots of fires in the hearts of men and their wife.

Long before he became Robin or Nightwing, roaming streets for thrills,
He was the original good boy gone bad, plotting a trapeze maneuver that kills,
Practiced with all sorts of distractions, even the strongman was a willing one,
A twist, a thump, a terrifying jump he'd perfected his moves until he was done.

How he loved the spotlight, the costumes and all eyes on him as he flew,
Dick is a youth with ample personality but who's over confidence was his glue,
Stuck in a spiral with no end, a tornado that meant faster and harder and more,
He's determined to push their act to the limits, all the way to the sawdust floor.

But that night he's being watched and admired, by hundreds of adoring eyes,
His parents trapeze is sabotaged and they fall to the look of his utter surprise,
And they whisper it's the mobster Tony Zucco, who was making the owners pay,
But whatever he did it affects their kid and he rebels in the worst possible way.

Dick is giving up his act, he won't go solo, so he's perusing the bars in town,
Living on the edge ,driving a wedge between him and those close still around,
He's gone rogue stirring up big trouble, looking for the thug who should pay,
He's a ward of court, but can't be caught, he's out there an impossible stray.

It's Bruce Wayne who's known the loss of parents, that takes him under his wing,
But even as Robin, Dick's revenge is throbbing, won't be sated in this thing,
Tony must pay that's not going away, let all of Gotham's criminals now cower,
For the last Grayson has teamed up with Batman, ready for his triumphant hour.



© .Garry Saunders