The magician wore
my mother’s perfume
and conjured family
from thin air—
a brother renamed uncle,
a wife recast as mother,
a daughter vanishing
behind a tale of bees.
Each sleight of hand was tender—
a hush, a smile, a bowl of soup
cooling on the Formica
while the truth was sawed in half
and tucked beneath the linoleum.
No one told me why
my “uncle” broke my father’s ribs,
or that dad’s flu came in a bottle.
No one told me my brother
had been in prison.
No one told me
I was adopted—
until Aunt Mary dropped the card
like an afterthought,
the queen of spades
sliding from her sleeve.
They said Virginia
died of a bee sting—
a prettier tale than
what swelled inside her,
the blood pressure and seizures,
the silence that followed
her body home.
And no one told me
that my mother wasn’t my mother
until dad blurted it out
on his deathbed.
I didn’t know the word for it
when I was little:
legerdemain—
sleight of hand,
sleight of memory,
the practiced art
of not quite lying
while saying nothing true.
Categories:
legerdemain, confusion, family, growing up,
Form: Free verse
circus magician
dazzles with his sleight of hand ~
audience in awe
Date written: 02/15/2021
Categories:
legerdemain, appreciation, art, imagery, magic,
Form: Senryu
Let's look to the land of Legerdemain
locale with surprises by sleight-of-hand.
Cards, coins, magic wands tax one's eyes and brain;
absorbed, we watch street performers grandstand.
Legerdemain - skullduggery pre-planned,
audience rapt in magic so diverse
assistants can pinch your wallet or purse.
True talent of prestidigitation
would never aid legerdemain’s perverse
misuse of skillful manipulation.
March 22, 2020
entry in Beth Evans' Delightful Dizains
Categories:
legerdemain, 11th grade, magic,
Form: Dizain
Ye guys/gals, drama requiring attention spins in Legerdemain.
There dwells within the caves of Underhill,
a legendary leprechaun lass named Phyll.
She keeps a pet dragon with wings of three;
she’s named her Levi for Leviathan.
Levi often flies to the Yggdrasil tree,
mythical place where legends can be spun.
Ye guys/gals, dialog reveals awesome secrets in Legerdemain.
"Haven't seen you in awhile, have some kvass?
"Phyll, I managed a meeting with the brass -
Queen Ledger from the domain of dragons.
By spring I'll bring home her son as my groom."
At these words, Phyll lifted her flagon,
to share toasts with Levi and lift her own gloom.
Ye guys/gals, dreams really are special in Legerdemain.
Winter has passed, neath the cucumber tree
Wonder! Phyll has found her own groom-to-be,
a fully attractive, leprechaun guy.
To the legendary lair sans delay
"dragons and leprechauns, we gotta fly
time to see the queen, it’s spring wedding day."
Ye guys/gals, discourse returns after summer in Legerdemain.
written May 14, 2017
Categories:
legerdemain, 11th grade, adventure, fantasy,
Form: Verse
A drunken bartender named Joe
Sports LEGERDEMAIN as his show
His corks popped and were hurled
As he curled and then twirled
Shock drenched in the HIPPOCRAS flow
Categories:
legerdemain, confusion, drink, funny,
Form: Limerick
on a hummock of Tane
he Practiced legerdemain
saw a girl
had to whirl
his trip down memory lane
Categories:
legerdemain, fun, funny,
Form: Limerick
Written in pages
few can comprehend...
Categories:
legerdemain, life
Form: Bio