Tower

By Jeffrey Czum via Pexels

Memory in spades
and knotted tables and
chairs like sea foam we

balance our well-to-dos
stacking them
higher to build a tower

the likes of
which could put Everest
to shame

how shyness never
knew its match but
nothing a timed word couldn’t draw
out

my everything
was in the small
gestures that sprung pleasant
surprise

when I couldn’t coax a rabbit from a hat
I brought the napkins by the cutlery to life

maybe
you thought it was another
joke or some
other plan kept in the back of mind

because nothing ever comes without motive you learned

but
be assured

the animals that wobble
by the plate with
half-formed legs are
just paper puppets