Clarette is prepared to be sawn in half. Every day of this magic tour and twice on Saturdays. There are so many children at the matinee that she can hear them gasp as her magician pulls apart the boxes. Her toes wiggle in one half, and in the other she turns her head and sticks out her tongue at the little ones. Three hours earlier she had washed her hair and set it in old-fashioned bristly curlers. She wants the stage lights to shine off her golden hair as the box is turned so that she can see her toes. They are really the toes of Milo, the most bendable man in the world. They are beautiful toes on lovely feet. She wants to kiss them and soon she will talk the magician into letting her do that.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 16, Issue 3.
Lisa J. Cihlar’s poems have appeared in Blackbird, South Dakota Review, Green Mountains Review, Crab Creek Review, and Southern Humanities Review. She has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was also a Best of the Net nominee.
See all items about Lisa Cihlar
The latest issue of Cider Press Review, Volume 16, Issue 3, premiers overnight July 1, 2014 starting at midnight (PST).