Magic Trick

Sloane Scott

The field is horseless.
Frost sprawls.

My father has lost
the ability to name so

anything goes. Like
spring’s come

when I place a cookie
in his open palm

and he calls it a dogtooth
violet—a lesson in

knowing vs. believing.
Although the appaloosa 

that roamed
beneath his window

is long gone he still 
speaks to it.

Pretty polka-dot
apple. I love. I love.

Sloane Scott (they/them) is a nonbinary lesbian poet from Missouri and incoming MFA student at Washington University. Their work has been published in MAYDAY, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and elsewhere. They are the founding editor of like a field, a seasonal journal of art and text.