A wonderful trick that,

The way her tongue tips up

Thread dips in, wet as one

And it loops through easy.

Easy like I never could

A simple thing. Yellow to red

Thread through, and slip

Into a rhythm of stitches.

Lifting the corner

She whips it up like a

Magician flicks his coat

Then lets it settle, light

Flat across her lap

Before rushed folding,

Shoving flags in jars,

Shoes, and cookers

One thrust between pages,

So that years later

When I reach for Tzu's poems

It falls open on Lu Tang Thu

The Magician's Assistant

I re-read it, flick back

To the first page and

Start from the beginning.