The Juggler's Daughter

I can keep my eye
on more than one body
at a time;
the the trick is in
not becoming attached
to what will drop you.

Swords, plates, halls, rings:
they relieve the monotony
of juggling
affairs.

It's up in the air,
love is;
if it's not where you think
it should be,
he quick! what comes next
may stab you in the back.

We all love a good trick
we can't figure out.

When we're not in love,
what we miss
is the balancing
between faith
and what the eye knows
is really there.

by Anita Endrette
Seattle, Washington

This Trick

for A.D. who taught me

To begin, I must warn you:
it is more than a gesture of skill
or chance. It requires a love of

threes. You will find it impossible
to do, at first. There is one
more ball than you can manage with

ease. Each hand desires but a single
thing-another hand, say-touched
to the small cupped

palm. But you know what you need
to complete this trick. Part of your task
is mastering the perfect rhythm of

threes. You must practice in a room so large
that nothing is easily broken. At your

first toss

the balls will drop and roll just out of

reach. Resist the urge to give in
to the loss. Soon your legs and arms grow limber,

stronger, as you learn to retrieve them

all. Listen: the trick is in keeping
two balls in the air, your eye fixed on it

always. In the exchange you must free what you

hold: you live for the one that is

falling. It is what your hands desire most, you
know. With practice you learn to anticipate

the moment you must let go.

by Margaret Winchell Miller
Houston, Texas