you must move like a chariot.
“keep going,” he said to me. fortune teller,
holding the wheel from the bottom of the deck
spinning it around, collecting lucky numbers
for numerology. he told me to rest,
pay for the night. rise in the morning to face the sun
and then, “keep going.”
through the daybreak and until the blackest night
“keep going.” always demanding,
like scripture, like a song,
written in the celtic cross, at random,
from the cards, “keep going.”
amends from those you’ve lost will come in time
if you are brave enough invite them inside
angel Gabriel holds the horn that blasts
your fortune to not be forgotten: “keep going”
the stars will be guide when i’m gone
remember the cards in the map of the night
keep your heart by your side;
let its instinct, an untamed lion, take over
this war will be won, not face to face
but shoulder to shoulder, going and flowing,
you must swim parallel to the ocean
battle aquarius through pisces
the scales, and then a pact with the devil
a brush with death’s horseman and a vow from
the high priestess, who waits for redemption
conjuring and speaking, lower than a breath.
past the lot of unlucky men, you will “keep going”
until the falling tower leaves you with
blisters and collisions, broken bones –
these are mere stitches and they heal
everything mends with time on its side
but you must “keep going”
there will come a moment of rest,
lady justice has promised you this
(after all it is only fair)
but until then
“keep going”

it is a whisper now,
from the hermit’s lamp,
through the cliff the fool tipped over,
from the pomegranate the empress split;
the hierophant still considers your fortune
on the wind, like rationality:
“keep going,
you must always,
keep going
until your fortune comes again.”

[Evelyn Deshane has appeared in Plenitude Magazine, The Rusty Toque, and is forthcoming in Tesseracts 19: Superhero Universe. Their chapbook, Mythology, was released in 2015 with “The Steel Chisel.” Evelyn (pronounced Eve-a-lyn) received an MA from Trent University and is currently studying for a PhD at Waterloo University. Visit them at: evedeshane.wordpress.com.]