Under the big wheel, next to the
Knife throwing arcade at a fairground,
The octogenarian Gypsy set up her tent.
Her tanned crinkled cheeks, mottled
And speckled, jute-grey hair,
Her jack-knife bends of knee knobs
And sickle-moon back, exacting
Caricature of a soothsayer.
Half a kilo of coloured bead-bracelets
Her fingers crowded with Signet rings,
Wrists twisted as bat�s wings,
She sat with a naked pack of cards,
Under the shadows of candle bars.
Flickering replica of her own hands,
Simulated replicas from the Devils palms.
Ding Dong went the bell, and suddenly
It was my turn, listening to my groovy tale
That was my present and future concerns.
I passed most of my years, and still sailing,
Looking for a dry land to anchor,
I was concerned if my fate would change
Gliding from turn to turn through sea-weeds,
A beach, may be, I would finally conquer.
A stack of four cards were laid in a row
Under the dim, veiled lights of sinuous candelabras
Two facing down, two facing up,
Engulfed on tablemats, hazy in candle-glow.
A man with a hawk, a wheel of fortune,
A man with three staves and a smoking cauldron.
She held another four cards tight against her bust
These, she said, will predict my future at last.
�Want a standard pack, or is it a deluxe chart?�
She offered. �You can order perfumed beads,
�Brass pendants or glowing rings? If you order
Two of these, it�d tide you over torrent seas.�
�I�ve an Iguana jaw that�ll kill your foe
An elephant nail, that�ll free you with a bail
�A rabbit�s paw - I�ve a precious few,
�For you: three for the price for two.
�Show me the beach, instead, � I said,
�I�m tired of sailing. Cats whiskers, eagles tail
�Rats toes or dogs collar - I�ll pay a fortune
�For peace, for just a signet ring or any fetish.
�Lets see what the one-eyed merchant holds,�
She said, �no wonder! a partridge and a pot of gold.�
�This is what was destined for you,
�Till the Wheel of Fortune came under view.
�You rolled the dice and took a leap
�Along the slippery road towards the ship.
�This card shows a lady in summer wind,
�She was the one, who catches you in the swing.
�You fly over, and never make a stop,
�Her fingers are poised for you to catch.
�Here�s the Serpent, the Devils tread,
�That lure you off from her loving net.
�Again this card of the Merchant with one Eye,
�With his directions, sadly, you sail by.
�Look at this card, what was destined to be,
�The marble lady with billboard in hand.
�You took the billboard, but left the lady
�Forever choosing to use the sword.
�You cut with the sword, wrote letters
�With the quill, you left numbers alone
�And all your gold turned to stone.
�Now see, here comes the marble lady
�With billboard in hand; this time the lady
�Holds a pen. But in comes The Serpent,
�Once again, and this could�ve been
�Your destiny if you bargained.
PAGE TWELVE
poem
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�Now see, here comes the marble lady
�With billboard in hand; this time the lady
�Holds a pen. But in comes The Serpent,
�Once again, and this could�ve been
�Your destiny if you bargained.
�It whisks you off the Marble lady
�In a blindfold way, you can see
�What the One-eyed Merchant had a say.
�The Lady with the Wings appears again
�Her fingers are poised for you in vain,
�You lose your way, float to unknown land
�And you follow this card into desert sand.
�Now comes the Caldron of fire next,
�Here you burn, trying to do your best.
�The Wheel takes you from Naples to Rome
�The one-eyed Merchant appears again,
�He leads you to choose between
�The billboard and the pen,
�As you scribble and paint on the board again.
�This card shows the Sea of Water
�Where you jump in to save your soul
�This is acid water, and it�s trapped in a lake,
�You�re in deep waters looking for a brake.
* *
�Take this balm and rub it on your flesh
�This will calm you, make you mute and deaf
�Use the billboard to shield from flacks
�You had always chosen the wretched path.
�You threw away gold, killed the partridge
�Followed the way of one-eyed merchant
�Keep the pen, keep the billboard
�It�ll tide you over till the journey�s end.
�No Iguana tail or Elephant nail will help
�As you can see �blank� in this card,
�You�ll keep struggling and suffering pain
�All your life you�d nothing to gain.
�Remember this plain card that came last
�This is your destiny � the dye is cast.
�Pain will vanish and the torture of your heart
�You�ll follow what shows in this card.�
I returned home with a pen in hand
Listening to the soothsayer as godsend
�Give me the Iguana, instead of the tail,� I said,
�The Pot of Gold, in exchange for the veil,
�I�d enough of you for one day,
�You wretched woman, you�ve spoiled my day.
�You say, my path was full of no-entries,
�And danger signs I ignored them all,
�Hurried and ignorant decisions I made
�Refused logic till the end of my time.
�I�d made myself to what I am
�I�m pushing along for my wretched fame.
�I�ve heard it all before, now I hold this pen
�I�m not listening and leaving your den,
�I�ve made myself mute and deaf
�With the Gypsy�s balm
�I�ll wait for the next life to come.
I�ll pay your fee, but remember me,
I�ll back with the billboard and the key.
�For all your worldly fees that you care,
�From the Pot of Gold I�ll have my share.