Black Powder

Black Powder --------------------------------------- He waits offstage, his posture tense, his gaze locked on the audience - his first in years. He blots the sweat that wets his face, then walks onstage and gets in place, amidst their cheers. In bowtie, vest and dinner tails, he's dressed down to his fingernails. His face is flushed. His eyes close tight, his breathing slows, beyond his sight, the tension grows The house is hushed... If he can pull from knurled old trunks, the Magic that their world debunks, he can pretend (at least until the curtain rolls) it's still his show, and he controls it in the end. Illusion casts no lasting spell. No, in conclusion, he's not well, so... shifting gears, he lifts his hat to loud applause, black powder sifting out like gauze... and disappears... * ---------------------------------------