Fortunetelling

Omens were easy

if you paid

enough attention,

silence key

and a quick eye

but also a slow tongue

as most don’t want

to hear what’s coming.

Oh they swear

they do, but we knew

stories of prophets, saints,

and, later, women

drowned, crushed,

burned for an inkling

of knowledge. Birds

out in rain 

and sundogs spoke

whether we listened 

or not, even if we never 

told anybody. The leaves

of the forest turn

over before a storm.

They shine with palms

of silver.

___

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