There's one of those candy machines
Where you put a coin in and turn
The metallic sounds you'll hear
And the soft landing; a token released
* * *
Childhood memories show the gleeful grins
At something received by chance and luck
There are also some disappointed frowns
And there goes the toy, forgotten on the ground.
* * *
This one is similar to a fortune teller
And it calls itself "Your Future Gifts"
I think it tells you what you'll receive
Not in phrases, but in simple words
Like "happiness", "grief", "peace"
A man before me had a happy grin
Whistling to himself as he left the booth
His paper had said "Love."
* * *
I wonder what's in store for me
As my old bent coin is put in the slot
The wheels inside echo as I turn the knob
And I can hear the mechanisms snap and groan
Out comes my gift from the chance-o-rama
A little message tucked neatly in a box
Curious fingers unfold the paper-fortune
* * *
And I frown, not of disappointment but puzzlement
My box was now on the ground, long forgotten
But as I turn away, I clutch dearly at the note...
* * *
It was blank.