Knife Thrower

Marlene Tully

I wonder at all
the errors
missed.
The cuts & stabs avoided
with grace.
The luster in the blade's silence.
How providence is unable
to match
an act
of true volition.
The keen trick of it.
Like science.
Like love.

My paternal grandfather (well, step-grandfather actually) was a knife thrower with the Cole Bros. circus in the 1920's and 30's. Never met him tho. My grandmother was a snake-charmer & "oriental" dancer.