small magic - Sarosh Nandwani

​the boy dismisses me but I know when I stumble
into restaurants, they suddenly become more 
populous. one time I read a tumblr post in my frenzied 
years about small magics 

    how someone makes an excellent cup of frothing tea, and even if you follow the same recipe, the imitation fails 
    how only the boy’s egg tacos with homemade sriracha-mayo taste like heaven 
    how someone always catches the frisbee right and never had to learn how 
    how I used to always guess the correct amount of M&Ms in the jar 
    how someone always makes it into the trash can with their paper balls and plastic bottles 
    how the boy’s yawns ceaselessly cause mine right after 

and after repeatedly showing up at my favorite 
taco place regardless of the time I noticed people would 
follow me in. suddenly the place would bustle and initially 
the boy played it off as a coincidence 

    he said “of course there are more people, we came right before lunch” or “dinner” or “breakfast” 
    he said “magic does not exist” 
    he said “there is no way that is true" 

and I tried convincing him I am magic and only recently 
did he consider I might be telling the truth because I 
walked into a farm-to-table restaurant with a friend 
in Mesa, Arizona at 2pm and 

14 people came in after me. it was not 
lunchtime and my friend confirmed to the boy that 
indeed, I am magic, to which I nodded vigorously, and he said, 
squinting, “okay, maybe I believe.”

About the Author: Sarosh is a mechanical engineer & anthropologist, and is particularly interested in the overlap between those subjects. She loves impulse buying poetry books and experimenting with her curly hair. Her Twitter and Instagram handles are @saroshnandwani. She has been published in Phemme Zine, the Hellebore, Peculiars Magazine, the Brown Orient, and is a regular contributor for Royal Rose Magazine. She is also a reader for Anomalous Press and Periwinkle Literary Magazine.​