I took the iconic nature of the cards . . .
. . . and made them tell a story beyond what was there on the deck. The fortune teller is often neglected and only seen as a source material — they tell us, the reader, about ourselves. But I wanted them to have a love story, and by combining it with a carnival, I hoped to capture the whimsical nature of summer.
–
The Fortune Teller’s Muse
I worked as a fortune teller
With tarot cards at the kids’ carnival
Making good money
But I didn’t believe it at all.
.
She walked in one night:
Sequinned top and high heeled shoes
When I pulled out The Lovers card
I knew I had to choose.
.
Between my day job at the super store
Or my night job at the fair
I noticed the moon was full that night
And I pretended not to care.
.
I shuffled my deck late into the night
After coming home from work
Pulled The Devil, then passed Judgement
And saw her face, flashing a smirk.
.
I travelled four blocks to find her
Following the sequins like the stars
A night map of Polaris and Ursa Major
Has never taken me so far.
.
She took me to a new World
And pulled the Magician out of her sleeve
Now I may never work at the carnival again
But she made me believe.
–
Evelyn Deshane
her work has appeared in The Fieldstone Review, Arthur Newspaper, and Absynthe Magazine. She has an MA in Public Texts from Trent University and is currently pursuing her PhD. She lives in Canada.
hyacinth noir 