The Magician's Assistant

A wonderful trick that,
The way her tongue tips up
Thread dips in, wet as one
And it loops through easy.

Easy like I never could
A simple thing. Yellow to red
thread through, and slip
into a rhythm of stitches.

Lifting the corner
She whips it up like a
Magician flicks his coat
Then lets it settle, light

Flat across her lap
Before rushed folding,
Shoving flags in jars,
Shoes, and cookers

One thrust between book pages,
So that years later
When I reach for Tzu’s poems
It falls open on Le Thang Thu

The Magician’s Assistant
I re-read it, flick back
To the first page and
Start from the beginning.