Our Fortunes Told
BY JOAN SWIFT
After reading span-of-life is carried in the genes.
Then it is, after all, written in the palm,
Like those crow’s-foot lines a soothsayer reads.
“You will have long life,” or “Skater on a warm
Pond, the ice breaks.” The skin’s opaque cells, the blood’s,
Red and white, hold a past and a prophecy.
The seer traces a sign. “You delight in words.
Red and white, hold a past and a prophecy.
The seer traces a sign. “You delight in words.
Like to handle money, lose your temper": my
Inheritance. In this room full of green plants
And people, each is locked in his own cells, day
Inheritance. In this room full of green plants
And people, each is locked in his own cells, day
After day, knowing there are few accidents
With eyes, leaf shapes, the petals of dahlias, and
How arms grow full then empty, our deep pigments
With eyes, leaf shapes, the petals of dahlias, and
How arms grow full then empty, our deep pigments
Dark or pale. Lover, loved, take my hand, woodland
Of ferny prints and chromosomes. Curl your fate
In my fingers this one blue day, this second.
Of ferny prints and chromosomes. Curl your fate
In my fingers this one blue day, this second.