MAGIC

I never mastered it but always knew
There was a gesture -- a certain
Angle of the wrist, or fingers rolled
Exactly so and there would be
Something not there before.
When I lunched with him my better self
Urged me to desist. "It is a trick,"
He said, "and not one worth learning."
Then he reached into thin air
And pulled down a lighted cigarette.
That my better self who, long ago,
I gave up trying to imitate,
Can do magic is unsurprising
But when did he start smoking?