read till end*
watch the magic man
how he weaves his hands
it's an illusion and a trick
watch carefully, be quick
he deceives us all
but keeps you in such thrall
this enigmatic show
it ebbs and it flows
now the day fades to black
it's silent...look back
what's happened? oh no...you're now all alone
you shiver right through, deep down to your bones
it's just you and him
the cold night's turned grim
his deception has fooled you
what's real, what's true?
look up and see, that he meets your stare
a smile of crimson, a cruel ****** tear
he twists in his hands, an object of malice
so sharp one slice, would render you bloodless
now slowly, so slowly please turn away
try to run, and please try to pray
for still he will find you, in the dead of this night
so don't think you're safe, don't leave the light
magician no more, he's an eater of souls
he'll skin you and string you up over hot coals
make haste, run quickly, my sweet little girl
my moon will guide you, a luminous pearl
you hear him and feel him, just over your shoulder
but I will be waiting - run faster, be bolder
duck behind corners and hide between nooks
think of the stories, you read in your books
of ladies so brave, with hearts full of fires
who live in a world of deceivers and liars
a web of confusion, I ask you to weave
pull all the tricks, right out of your sleeve
he tricked you, sweet flower
dishonesty: his power.
so take it, embrace it, as if it is yours
destroy all his plans, my small saboteur
safety I promise, if you beat the deceiver
he'll wither and rot and be taken by fever
oh darling don't fret, don't stumble and cry
for what bad could come, of one little lie?
The idea of this poem, started when I was reading a book called “The Night Circus”. I thought about how children are always told not to lie, or to even spin the truth, because it will end in pain for them and that it is not ‘the right thing to do’. We grow up being told not to be dishonest - and yet somehow, become adults who do it almost compulsively. The girl is the innocence, and the magician the world that we, as children, were once entranced by and convinced was exactly as it seemed - only to discover that it can be full of scorn and evil and seems to be out to get us. The voice that speaks to the girl, is the voice of a mother, and she tells the girl to use the magicians’ deception against him – that is to say that she loses her innocence and turns to his cruel tricks in order to survive; she herself needs lies, and being cunning becomes a necessity. In this world, we too must be cunning and occasionally deceptive if we want to get the outcome we seek.
The ending, by asking, “what bad could come of one little lie?”, is supposed to draw the reader to the insight of a full circle - that the man himself embodied lies and was cruel and had no love even for the innocent – so what bad could come? Is that we begin only to know how to be liars and to deceive and that we believe it is the only way to get ahead in this world. Like the magician did.
He has no care for what his deceptions do - that they shatter the previous joy and beauty of what the girl thought she knew.
This poem was inspired because I hope it does make one wonder if we lie to protect ourselves or to intentionally harm others to get ahead. There are two sides to each story, and if I flipped this poem, it would be form the magicians perspective – the perspective of someone so corrupted by his web of lies, that it is now all he knows.
