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Daffodil, the Great: a Poem

Foolish day
To think that I would fall for such a cheap trick!
And to think that you would

Draw on my heart
For your gullible audience,
Pulling a robin out of your hat

Waving your wand
To make the snow vanish,
Making the sunlight seem to brighten

Just as I look up.
How can I trust you now?
Even the man who just brought my coffee

Is conspiring with another waiter
To bring the tables outside.
How cruel.

They glance over to make sure that I am listening.
How much did you have to bribe them?
And the mud on our road,

One inch shy of axel deep!
I know as well as you
That you have no intention

Of thawing the road for keeps.
Soon those foot-deep ruts will be ridges
As hard as concrete.

You want us to think that we made it,
That the deck is in our favor.
“Pick any card”, you say

With a vulpine smile.
But I know you better.
You may fool the newcomers

Into thinking they will draw the black lotus,
But I know fake magic when I see it.
The greatest magician of all

Is no illusionist!
And no matter how many times she does it
It never gets old.

She finds her way out of a frozen bulb
And a million locks spring open.
Including the one on my heart.