Rosabelle, believe by Kate Garrett
for Harry & Bess Houdini

On a day of no importance: dark of winter, far from seances
and anniversaries, at
who wouldn’t take a reward: answer, tell, pray-answer, look,
tell, answer-answer, tell // a code tapped out in syllables, letters
across the stage for his encore performed between there and here
– b e l
last chance to forgive the waking walking world for everything
it stripped from him, the world in which he must have turned
to smoke, escaping cuffs and cells and chains // learn to fly,
Houdini—they sit in circles, holding hands, invoking your name.
____________________________________________________________

Kate Garrett is the editor of Picaroon Poetry, Three Drops from a Cauldron, and Bonnie’s Crew. Her own work is widely published, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and longlisted for a Saboteur Award. Her latest pamphlet Land and Sea and Turning


One Comment
Shauna
I really like this! It portrays the atmosphere very well and I like the depth in Houdini being the one they’re calling for. Thank you for sharing this with us!