The New Pack

The new pack

“The new pack
of cards: slick,
disco-slithery.
—James Merrill,
Collected Prose

It’s an old, ongoing story—
From prehistory to fairy tales
Like Henry James’s late reverie
“The Great Good Place”
And Merrill’s Sandover.

We read about a hero—
Or heroine faced by an
Impossible task which thru
Some magical, unforeseen
Agency is accomplished.

Reading Sandover—
Late at night rummaging
For mislaid “gems” &
“Charms” to patterns
of Merrill’s kaleidoscope.