The Magician
by
Richard Reed Jr
copyright 03-21-2008
Age Rating: 1 to 127
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A syllable poem
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each stanza is structured like this:
line 1=1 syllable
line 2=3 syllables
line 3=6 syllables
line 4=8 syllables
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1,3,6,8
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With
quicksilver
hands faster than the eye
can see, he makes things disappear.
Now
you see it
now you don't but quickly
from behind your ear it can be
plucked.
Red flowers
sprout from a bewitched hand
kerchiefs crawl like brightly colored
snakes
from under
deceitful buttoned-down
cuffs where before, he swore an oath
of
nothingness.
He pulls a rabbit from
out of an empty hat shouting
words
of magic
like hocus pocus and
ala ka zam while a
dove
roosts on a
slowly waving black wand
a dangling scarf makes him vanish.
Now
presenting
a box lady and saw
who will climb inside as a whole.
when
the lid falls
the magician will saw
the poor lady inside in half.
To
prove she lies
in two pieces not one
each half of the box will be rolled
to
opposite
sides of the stage, one half
has her head the other her feet.
Then
the two halves
are pushed back together
and when the lid is reopened
lo
and behold
faith and begorra, one
body stands up and takes a bow
and
while the crowd
is distracted, the sly
magician has vanished, surprise!
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LOL ^_^ Well, now, on to the serious business of the critique.
The stanza beginning with the word "dove", only has 3 lines. No 4th line for a home for the 8 looked-for syllables. :(
The stanza beginning with the word, "word", ends with a 7 syllable line. Regardless of how I tried to make it work, it would not yield up that last syllable for the 8. :(
If I'm wrong, please let me know. :)
I like the poem, the style, the experimental nature of it all. I liked the imagery and the texture. It flowed very smoothly and very quickly once one learned to recognize the sentence pattern you'd created. .>.>;;
I especially liked the ending. The entire piece took me back many years and some not so many, and let me relive a portion of my naive and happy life. I never did want to know a magician's secrets. Why destroy that which brings wonder and bemusement? That's a rhetorical question, by the way. One doesn't. At least I don't.
So, therein lies the greater meaning of this write--for me. Let me have my childhood fantasies and don't try to force me to grow up.
Than you for bringing him back. Her, too. ^^
Incidentally, I saw Sigfried and Roy perform in Vegas, some years ago. Awesome!! Literally.
Thank you for this write, Rich.
Welcome !
