No Magick

Sealed lips refuse to answer
the questions in their eyes
Does she have power?
Is she the one?
She will never tell,
let them speculate

They watch her every move
Wondering what she’ll do
Can she shape shift or make time stand still?
Can she turn boys into newts?
Will she,
eat their children?

The Devil she courts, they say
He becomes an animal in the day
She’s parched the land
Soured the milk
Look at her hands
Gnarled and wilted
From evil deeds

Then, “No!”

Another time another place
they had believed such things.
Enlightened age.
Powerless age.
No longer afraid.
They sneer instead.

No magic in their lives.
No magic in hers.
Delusional, insane, sad,
but no magician.

A child cries, from down a well
The cry ends
A crowd forms
Watching, helpless, motionless body
Mother cries, pleads for help
Child awakes,
scales smooth wall to safety

No magic they say
She smiles and turns away