Ale­jan­dro sings in his sleep.
He comes to my browns, my best reds,
my store of references;
he loves my young eyes full time he says
and for all his family.

His daugh­ter, Ale­jan­dra, calls out her needs:
my ears at the end of her voice
near­ly fill with wax,
but the words slide beneath the barricades,
each one an insinuation.

Alejandro’s fam­i­ly is large, wise and wild.
They invite me into their home
where I enter­tain with slight-of-hand,
a con­jur­ing trick or two,
mag­ic enough to insure my stay.

At  twi­light, every day,
one from the group vanishes
while none of the remain­ing notice,
but each time their atten­tion on the trick
and the way I move my hands, sharpens.

After weeks of this – good food on the table
wine and the fam­i­ly appear­ing and disappearing
like ghosts on a string, like var­ie­gat­ed angels –
Ale­jan­dra remains missing,
caught beyond my mag­ic in the mists.
 

 

 

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