Flight of Fortune
Aisle seat in the third row–
a next door neighbor I do not know.
I put my seat belt on and then
look up to her all-knowing grin.
“May I tell your fortune?” is her request,
(It is not made at my behest.)
A pastime really not my choosing,
still, with nothing more amusing
to pass the time, I give consent
and this is how our time is spent
in those first minutes of our flight,
until the ground is out of sight.
My fortune told, I sit and think,
ordering another drink,
pleased by some of her predictions
but finding others contradictions
to how I’ve planned my life to be.
I worry fingers upon my knee.
Does she concoct or does she see
these things that she relates to me?
Some things she mentions have happened, still,
I hope that others never will.
Yet I fear, if I reject
the things she says, I might deflect
the good things so they’ll never be.
This is the choice that faces me.
Can the good that she foretold––
of feats accomplished and love and gold––
be accepted without the rest?
I want the warmly-feathered nest,
but do not desire everything
she tells me that my life will bring.
The illness, sadness, loss of friends?
I don’t like how my fortune ends.
I warmly press her proffered hand,
take off my seat belt and quickly stand.
Perhaps if I just change my seat
and find a seat mate more discreet,
I’ll change my life as easily––
and react less queasily
to conversation that is not rife
with details of my future life!
Strange. This prompt somehow came up and I thought it was a current one, so answered it, but when I tried to pingback, it turns out it is just a few days shy of a year old and comments are closed. I’m going to go ahead and post it since it took me about an hour to find and alter this poem written many years ago.. For the MMM Challenge
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
Wonderful, Judy! Taking the bad with the good is a great definition of life lived. I am overwhelmed by effects of the Fall in Vienna, that doesn’t seem to end, but I am still thankful for the beauty of the architecture and lovely food in Vienna. I would like to have missed one but then I would have missed a great tour.
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Some of the best things that have happened to me have come about because of the very worst things that have happened…It has made me keep faith. We have no choice in what happens to us…only in how we react to it. xo
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This taking the bad with the good has been a recurring theme in your blog over the years…as it has with us all, I guess. Always good to see your comments, Regina. xo
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You never cease to amaze me!
I had my fortune told once in the Peace Corps, in Tunisia! I recall she looked at tea leaves floating in water… mentioning a fellow with auburn hair…I dated one in college but I married a brunette 52 years ago! Presently wispy white locks on Mt. Baldy! I’m not much better and need my Rosemary tonic to hopefully rejuvenate!
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I have had fortune tellers the world over tell me astonishing truths, both of my past and my future. I’ve not had my fortune told in years, however, and at this age sort of don’t want to know the future. Thanks for responding, Perry.
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WHAT A VIEW
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I have taken so many photos from plane windows, but in this case depended on someone else’s. Maybe because it echoed the poem re/ someone else’s view?
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It’s still something i wonder about; as to why Africa lacks the infrastructure like US has. Its costs an arm and a leg to even think about a cost of a plane ticket🙄🙄
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Partially because it has been so exploited by the first world and so many of its natural resources drained off.
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A very interesting companion you had. Personally, I would not want to know my future. I’d rather that it be a surprise.
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As I get older, the same is true of me, Sadje.
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❤️❤️❤️
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Yes, telling fortune is a tricky endeavor.
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