The Caterpillar
 
At the Addison County Field Days,
our local county fair,
there’s a new act called
 
The President. A professor,
off for the summer,
does a card trick
 
he doesn’t have a good
explanation for.
How it works.
 
Producing a card that seems
to have been shot out
of a cannon. Swirled
 
in a tube of cotton candy.
Without a number, a face
or one of the four suits.
 
To let you know that’s the one
you picked, without touching it.
It’s blank. An end-of-summer
 
memory. A whirl-a-gig of sorts.
The Caterpillar. You can sit in
with a friend, who becomes
 
your girlfriend, when the ride’s
roof comes over you.
Where you can hold hands,
 
kiss. For a few minutes.
Until the world is the world
again. Outside. And you’ve spent
 
all your money for another
year. And now, as you are,
you’re still amazed, trying
 
to guess how that card
rose from his hand.
Where the girl went.
 
By the end of the night.
How many arms you would need
to carry what you’ve won.
 
       — Gary Margolis, Cornwall