In the plaza, he pirouettes,
juggling, glittering mysteries.
Balls of light traditional, rings untouched.
Enlightenment, lit up orbs.
The man, a mysterious specimen.
A traveling show, a waste of time passing
confederates tucked away.
Ashen acolytes peer, anxiously, wary,
wearing a single cloth.
Appearing in an identical piece,
looking longer,
faces sad, mad, and fearless.
Like the acolytes, the woman
alights the stage,
unawake.
The magician, credulous,
doves dart and
owls observe.
Goat devil prances, yellow-slitted pupils,
looking at the magic man lying like the lion.
Trickery, fakery, fraud.
Image: Magician, by Remedios Varo (Mexico, b. Spain) 1956
Published in The Ekphrastic Review, The Art of Tarot, December 2022
