The 2River View 19.1 (Fall 2014)
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Grant Clauser

The Magician Dreams

Every cause has its effect.
The moon crawling on all fours
leading a pack of mangy dogs.
A man alone in his house
breeding homunculi in jars.

It's the doom of mirrors
that they can't turn away.
Every glance ahead is just
a false goodbye. He covers them
with cloth to keep the eyes outside.

Outside, rain without clouds.
Fish fall from the sky like a wish
shot down for wishing wild.
His shadow moves in circles
on the floor, finally settles down
and sleeps some more.

The Magician's Vacation

There's no place he can go
where the universe can't
find him.

So much on his mind,
the comings and goings
of stage smoke,
how to read the facial
ticks of a tiger
and the number
of clicks
in his favorite padlock

that he can't relax
even on a beach.
Instead, he counts
sand grains and sea gulls,
listens for the cries
of sailors in a conch shell

and rearranges the stars
to better explain
the weather.

Grant Clauser is the author of two books: The Trouble with Rivers and Necessary Myths. His poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Cortland Review, Mason's Road, and elsewhere. blog

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