Romani Whispers

My female friends elated
Heard of tallest husbands,
Longest lives,
And plush careers.
She looked at cards and whispered gravely.
I would die in Istanbul
Before the age of twenty-five.

I never trusted fortune tellers,
Traveling prognosticators
Under dangling jewels and exotic headwraps
Over shaky foreign accents,
But I always knew
I wouldn't make it long,

Until I did.

I nearly went ten years ago.
As always, I was stubborn.
Lived, I did.
I walked away unbent,
Unaffected.

So now, I visit doctors,
Faced a dentist after thirty years.
No flaring out in brilliance,
I'm adjusting to a subtle fade,
The settling,
The rust.

We make our peace
With our survival unexpected
And reluctantly embraced.

- 3/26/25

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