(The art of deception is in making you look elsewhere while the real manipulation is occuring right under your nose. When we want to be entertained we happily allow ourselves to be so distracted. But when it comes to the pick-pocketing of our souls - well that's another matter - isn't it? )

With ticket in hand and Coke in a can
I sat down in the very front row.
With chips in a cup I sat down to sup
And enjoy the afternoon show.

He came on in a whirl with a cape and a girl,
As he strutted across the stage.
With top hat held high, both hands to the sky
All attention he sought to engage.

And as the lights dimmed low, with sequins aglow
And curves in every location,
She swayed and she smiled, bewitched and beguiled,
His assistant and constant companion.

Look Here! Said his right, behold a marvellous sight,
While his left moved swiftly unseen.
Watch me, said the girl with a flutter and a twirl,
While his left did not as it seem.

The illusion complete I sat awed in my seat,
Baffled by how it was done.
But the art of the man was not in the hand,
But in how my attention was won.

Yet with the show ended and the curtain descended
It’s the news that I reflect on.
While the headlines scream out what is the other hand about
Of the master of deception?

D.J. Ludlow Copyright 1997.

(From the "Life Lines" Anthology)