By Eric Burgoyne
Truly an innocent endeavor
my horoscope site spawned
by academic debt
myself the fawning fake mystic
selling ad space and private
readings online
I simply made it all up
using fast fashion sales skills
on the receptive to deception
protecting my anonymity
avoiding jams, pushing the scam
all without guilt
until a friend’s request arrived
in my Astro Reading Center queue
desperate that her marriage was dying
fortunately an easy one to handle
as I’d been her maid of honor
the year before
but last night I got the heaves
reading a new message in the queue
sent from an actual clairvoyant
accusing me of betraying
an ancient guild, using my real
name, revealing private thoughts
even describing my hidden mole
calling out my deceit and
insisting we must meet
Eric Burgoyne views himself as an outlier in the poetry world. At age 69, he recently completed an MA Creative Writing at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, England, and makes his home in rural Hawaii. When not writing poems, he spends time surfing, running, and motorcycling. His poems have appeared in a number of places, including Lothlorien Poetry Journal, The Dawntreader, Paddler Press, and others.