[stylist] Poem - "Magician"

[William L Houts]

Hi Chris,

Actually, I think you're right on the money.  Sometimes, I know exactly 
what I'm trying to say and I usually say it.  But on other occasions, 
it's more like I'm taking the language for a spin and seeing what 
happens on the trip.  I think "Magician" is somewhere between these two 
poles of mine.  It's probably not too surprising that I think this poem 
is about art and artists.  It says that most artists of any quality have 
some experience of suffering which shapes them;that's what the first 
part of the poem is about.  Then the speaker of the poem refers to those 
magicians who grow jaded, who ask why to bother at all.  And by the end 
of the poem, the speaker says he rarely works magic at all anymore --he 
wants nothing which isn't already there, as he says.  But the last lines 
present some hope;  sometimes, on Sundays, he plucks the blood rose from 
gardens of air.  So unlike his magical brethren, who are crass and 
emphatic about giving up art / magic, the speaker says that on noccasion 
he stilol works a certain wonder. So he at least, is still keeping his 
hand in, and hasn't entirely given up crossing the gap between the 
mundane and the supernatural with his own body, and so therefore hasn't 
given up all hope. I recognize that it isn't necessarily an easy poem to 
get, but I don't think that it lacks all clue as to its meaning.




--Bill










On 4/23/2014 7:05 AM, Chris Kuell wrote:
> Hey Bill,
>
> I wanted to acknowledge your poem, as I don't believe anyone else has 
> yet. I've read it, let it sit, reread it, and reread it again. I think 
> this is probably one of those poems that has great meaning to you, but 
> I'm simply too dull to get much from it. I like the words, and the 
> phrasing, and while I'm sure it means something, I'm just not close 
> enough to see it. Perhaps the poem is symbolic of something you (the 
> poet) used to be able to do, with your blazing words, but the people 
> just don't react the same any more. Does that make me one of your 
> drunken onlookers? If so, that's a role I'm used to playing.
>
> Thanks for sharing.
>
> chris
>
>
>
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"Let's drink a toast now to who we really are."

           --Jane Siberry