Gifts

when I was baptised

in the old porcelain bathtub

all white and stained with 

the marks of a century 

the good fairies 

shook out their pockets

for this unusual 

collection of gifts

so it is 

that I can read 

faster than anyone 

and thrust my hands

into failures and keep them 

there in the heat of the fire 

until I draw out success 

also my dreams 

spin themselves 

into prophecies 

but only sometimes

and I am lucky 

in friendship 

it is good to know

that I was not forgotten 

when the keys 

to the magical kingdom 

were handed round

the circle

it is good to know

that I was not forgotten