I've seen him before. He always had seemed to me in the past to be a man who did tricks or slight of hand, if you will, in order to meet people and make a few bucks.
But not tonight.
The magic man did a special kind of magic for us tonight.
There were no stupid frat boys or silly college girls giggling over his stack of tricks. It was just us...the late nighters. For us few, he brought out the real magic, the kind no one believes in any more.
To give an example, he asked for a key and I gave him mine. He laid it down in my roommate's hand, and using two fingers resting lightly on the key, he broke it in half. The key now hangs from my keyring. It is twisted as though someone had melted the end off of it. He moved metal as his opener for us...as the spectacular showing of what he could do. But it was what he said that was the most impressive.
The magic man looked at my roommate when we first walked up and talked to her. She did not realise, until I told her, that he had called her by her name. None of us had said her name up to that point. Then, he turned to her and said, " The Black Crowes are a great band and I love the song 'She Talks to Angels,' too." How he knew her favorite band and song by them is a mystery to me. Katie has never even seen the magic man before.
He is the magic man. He makes us wonder at the things that he does. It makes us feel wonder in a time when no one believes in the unbelievable.
Personally, I believe he is magic. I don't want to know if he isn't.
It's much better to think that there is magic left in the world. Especially since no one believes init anymore.
So, here's to the magic man.
May his life be....magical.