1. An Inquiry Is magic The physical manifestation of imagination? The power to plunge into fantasies And never have to leave? Make life more like dreams Or bouts of creativity? Freeing the luster of stories From material possibilities? Taking reality In whatever direction We might see it go. Is it something we see? Something we do? Something we feel? Some mystical force Interacting concretely Molding impossible unknowns Into the tangible and relevant? Do we really have to know What magic is To bask in its benefits? Or is it best experienced By those who acknowledge That the power of magic May lie in its mystery?
2. An Encounter When I’ve encountered magic It’s never some display Of sparks Or smoke Or dust Or flame. It’s just a stretching Of my understanding Of what reality Actually is. It doesn’t have to be A drastic departure. Just a hair outside The realm of possibility. A happening That can’t be Explained away Successfully. Leaving one exposed To the mist Of the irrational Watering The spinning seeds Taking root In the cracks Of an existential foundation.
3. A Journey into the Void I’m unwilling to fully embrace reality. I won’t acknowledge Solely what my senses register. From outside possibilities In art and creativity And dreams Dragging me To places I’ve never known Through open doors To rooms Denying rationality And restoring The wonders of belief. I can’t embrace A limited view Any longer. Abandoning unknowns Just isn’t feasible When my ambition Is so much more defined Than any explanation of actuality. If there’s magic in the void I want to find it. So go ahead Just leave me: Clinging to fantasies Living enchanted possibilities And straddling the edge of imagination I’m happiest here.
Nicholas Yandell is a composer, who sometimes creates with words instead of sound. In those cases, he usually ends up with fiction and occasionally poetry. He also paints and draws, and often all these activities become combined, because they’re really not all that different from each other, and it’s all just art right?
When not working on creative projects, Nick works as a bookseller at Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon, where he enjoys being surrounded by a wealth of knowledge, as well as working and interacting with creatively stimulating people. He has a website where he displays his creations; it’s nicholasyandell.com. Check it out!