transformative experience

there is a hat from which the magic man
pulls out the rabbit—there is the heart
inside the rabbit he then dislodges
and bids me, crush it in my hand
and smear it into my face like slander
 
there is the heart of the magic man which—
ta-da! —vanishes the moment you see it
because it didn’t spring from the hole
of the hat—heartless, he glides my way
with a croon in his motion and an ocean
 
of love for me to swim in—he asks
if he can transform me into a dolphin
so I can find “my inner porpoise” and
then I realize only my father would
make a pun that lame and then I realize
 
I’m writing a poem about my father

(Poem originally appeared in Public Pool)