I knew a man who lived
on the wonder of a lie.
He had a bird in his sleeve
and cards that flew. Dissolving coins
in a closing palm, tearing up notes
that fell like snow. There were tricks
that fooled with a practiced ruse,
the plant in a crowd
or a trapdoor stage. The woman in a box
to be sawn in two. A West End hit
with sold out shows, queuing in the rain
for a fraud
in a suit. I'm an artist, he once told me,
sitting at a mirror
with a frame of bulbs. Hands, magic, illusion,
paused. The bird on a perch
and a cigarette lit. Who wants
truth, he said, blowing out smoke.
on the wonder of a lie.
He had a bird in his sleeve
and cards that flew. Dissolving coins
in a closing palm, tearing up notes
that fell like snow. There were tricks
that fooled with a practiced ruse,
the plant in a crowd
or a trapdoor stage. The woman in a box
to be sawn in two. A West End hit
with sold out shows, queuing in the rain
for a fraud
in a suit. I'm an artist, he once told me,
sitting at a mirror
with a frame of bulbs. Hands, magic, illusion,
paused. The bird on a perch
and a cigarette lit. Who wants
truth, he said, blowing out smoke.
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Nicholas Hogg is the author of A Sacrifice, inspiration for the Ridley Scott film starring Eric Bana and Stranger Things' Sadie Sink. In 2021 he won the Gregory O'Donoghue Poetry Prize, and in 2023 the Liverpool Poetry Prize. His poems have featured in The Guardian, Poetry Ireland, and London Magazine. His debut collection, Missing Person, is published by Broken Sleep Books.
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