The Holding Spell

In her spare time
she practices magic
but not the kind
you see on TV.
To the best of my knowledge
she can’t do card tricks,
saw people in half,
or make coins disappear.

To get warmed up
she’ll exert dominion over nature
start an Autumn squall
just to shake things up a bit.
Then across the city
doors slam
windows rattle
and she’ll carelessly point out
that it was all her doing.
(in case you hadn’t noticed)

For the main act
she warps space-time,
so disregard your clocks.
They’re of no use to you now.

Then she makes her hands
as big as my body
and covers me everywhere
all at once -
her hips become
infinitely curvy
her breasts become
impossibly steep
until, eventually
there’s nothing left to grab
and nothing left to do
except fall
all the way down
to the bottom of her.

For her next trick
she possesses me entirely
and all I can do is watch
and wait
while she invokes a storm.
This is the best part:

Branches disembark
gracelessly
from trees
and smash their way
into people’s sitting-rooms
via the ceiling.

Cars tumble through streets
end over end
setting off alarms
and greatly pissing off
dogs and insurance companies
but for different reasons

Then she says “Hold me!”
This is the Spell of Holding.
It’s completely safe
as long as you don’t let go.

“Love me!” she commands
This is the Spell of Loving.
This one’s more dangerous
but far more impressive.

“Imagine me” she orders
This is the spell of impossible futures
and I have to imagine us
drunk,
giddy,
between destinations
somewhere in Italy.
Rome probably,
throwing coins in the fountain.

Then I dream us
into a sea-side cottage
somewhere in the world,
without a television
or a radio
because we really don’t care
what happens to other people.

Next she’ll cast:
- The Spell of Disappearing
- The Spell of Unwelcoming Shadows
- The Spell of Imposed Echoes
In no particular order

and I’ll un-throw the coins,
un-visit the fountain,
un-live in the cottage,
wipe the benches,
and do the dishes;
this is called House-keeping.

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Tags:

dark, light, love, magic, obsession and woman