Cassandra Works the Night Shift at the Call Center
She works from 10 pm to 5 am,
because the money is better,
and prophecies carry more
weight in the dark.
She sits upright in her crummy swivel chair,
sips tea from her favorite terracotta mug,
and answers questions posed
by those loved and lost.
Her eyes follow a steady rhythm
as scripts flash across her screen.
She’ll answer honestly, but never
take on questions about travel plans,
or the apocalypse. No one
believed her the first time.
For those who don’t listen,
she lowers her voice to the sound
of whiskey poured over ice,
and for those satisfied seekers
she receives a 10% commission,
and a 5-star prophetess rating.
Sometimes, the crack of heartbreak
can be heard, since all calls
are recorded for training
and quality assurance.
- Marie C Lecrivain 2020
Marie C Lecrivain is a poet, publisher of poeticdiversity: the litzine of Los Angeles, and ordained priestess in the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis. Her work has been published in Nonbinary Review, Orbis, Pirene's Fountain, and many other journals. She's the author of several books of poetry and fiction, and recent editor of Gondal Heights: A Bronte Tribute Anthology (copyright 2019 Sybaritic Press, www.sybpress.com).
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