Once, only once,
The Magic Marble Man
Forgot his line.

But what a time
To “go up.”
The command performance
Had been in the works for months.

Trumpeters engaged,
Jugglers hired,
Singing mermaids,
With a few baritone mermen
Thrown in for good measure.
Swimming in.

And there he was,
The one and only Marble Man
Gone blank,
Not a word coursing through his
Brain.
A vacuum.
Ah, yes.

Brain, yes, then it came.
In a split-second.
“Brain.”

“The key to all knowledge is
The juicy syrup of the brain.”

As he sent forth the declaration with gusto,
He knew he’d never lose the knack.
It was just one of those things,
Just one of those crazy things.
His own bell starting to ring
In his unique way.

The Magic only the Marble Man
Created
At his fingertip
Just one of those things.

Charlene James-Duguid
Amissville, Virginia
January 16, 2021