The fortune teller’s tent
was next to the tent
that had a pickled
3-legged baby in a jar.
The fortune teller was middle-aged
and swarthy
and wore an extravagance of color
like a Gypsy.
She held my paw.
I was in seventh grade and
had yet to grow hands.
“You will be a big success,”
she said
after a too quick
I thought
look at my palm.
“But late in life.”
--
Wayne F. Burke's poetry and prose has been widely published in print and online (including in DISTURB THE UNIVERSE). His eight published collections of poetry include the highly praised A LARK UP THE NOSE OF TIME, 2017. He lives in Vermont (USA).