divination

Give me a coin, and I'll tell you

What you want to hear—

A sliver of your future

Good? Bad? Nonexistent?

I don't know. You present me with your fate to view.

-

Thank you for the coin.

Now try not to turn away,

It'll feel a little funny,

It's just me, peering a little into your future.

-

Mm. Your future will be carefree—dark—

—Tragic? Tragedy, ah, the thing that so many fear…

-

Come, ask me a question, and I'll

Answer it as you want me to.

Ask me what tomorrow's lottery numbers are,

Ask me what time you should register for the contest…

-

You don't want any of that? Only a divination,

A question about your safety.

I know the truth. You are not safe.

Not safe at all…

-

To uphold my integrity, or to keep that smile on your face?

Should I tell you the truth?

For the truth is both what you desire,

And what you fear.

-

Why tell you what is going to happen?

Life's life; it'll happen, whether you know it or not

Why despair you with such bad tidings?

-

A nod and a coo—the signal for good luck

The questioning look in your eyes vanish—

You're smiling! Somehow, my heart aches

To know that I didn't tell you the truth,

To know that you are smiling for a lie.

-

It is all a dilemma I meet often,

Which I dismiss with the ease of blinking an eye

In the end, all that matters is actually the coins, isn't it?

If I give bad news all the time, no one will come to me

And I won't get any of the coins I love.

-

So I'll keep all the truths to myself,

Vending false divinations for shiny gold coins,

Never telling of the dangerous truth that I alone see

—And everyone's happy.

-

I do wish I didn't have this power, sometimes.

The future is better left untouched, unknown

And I will keep it unknown from you,

Keeping only joy on your face

With lies, untruths, a masking smile.

-

Come, ask me a question,

And I'll answer it as you want me to.

Give me a coin, and I'll tell you

What you want to hear.