In the magician's land of make-

   believe and illusion

what one doesn't see is always

   there . . .

only one doesn't see it

until the conjurer is ready to

   show it.

The silks are stuffed within the

   hollow egg,

the flowers collapsed within the palm

   of his hand,

the card concealed on the back of his

   fingers.

But death is the greatest necromancer

   of all;

in a moment of inattention,

he makes his sleight and palms a

   life,

and one does not realize

that the breathing figure is gone.

Bill S. Ballinger

The Tooth and the Nail

1955