Amanda Dalton - How to Disappear

First rehearse easy things.
Lose your words in a high wind,
Walk in the dark on an unlit road,
Observe how other people mislay keys.
Their diaries, new umbrellas.
See what it takes to go unnoticed
In a crowded room. Tell lies:
“I love you. I`ll be back in half an hour.I`m fine”

Then childish things.
Stand very still behind a tree,
Become a cowboy, say you`ve died,
Climb into wardrobes, breathe on a mirror
Until there`s no one there, and practice magic,
Tricks with smoke and fire –
A flick of the wrist and the victim`s lost
His watch, his wife, his ten pound note. Perfect it.
Hold your breath a little longer every time.

The hardest things.
Eat less, much less, take a wow of silence.
Learn the point of vanishing, the moment
Embers turn to ash, the sun falls down,
The sudden white –out comes.
And when it comes again – it will-
Just walk at it, walk into it, and walk,
Until you know that you`re no longer
Anywhere.