The Fortune Teller
Descending into the Otherworld
I speak with a river god

Down in Louisiana, where the alligators grow so mean There lived a girl, that I swear to the world Made the alligators look tame Tony Joe White
I seek his answers
Descent from the mortal world
Mankind, not his prey
I went to talk today With a mighty river god. He crouched in the mud, eased His way smoothly to stand at my side.
I was in search of knowledge, Armed not with the seven divine tokens, Only my beauty and the power I knew he would sense. He was an animal, And I gleamed in the darkness Like an inviting fish.
I will tell you what you wish to know, Little sister of the sun, so bold to venture here. I will you what the child is, Who waits for her. But the answers will burrow deep within, Called forth at another time and place, Though not at your command.
The clouds spun, tumbled, cerulean, purple. The waves rose higher and higher. I called out, “Tell me!” Even as I forgot my questions, Sought my way home, wanting only To escape with my hidden answers.
This is a former fortune teller, named Penelope at this point in the 21st century. A combination of a curse and her own powers has allowed her to live many centuries and travel all over the world. She and her young lover, Ronan, are living in New Orleans.
She has walked otherworldly paths before.
