The Sooth-Sayer Poem by David Lewis Paget

She sat and pored over maps and charts
In the early hours, in dread,
She said she needed to plot her path
For the difficult days ahead,
‘The Moon will come to conjunction soon,
With Pluto, sat in your eighth, '
I said, ‘Well what will that do to me? '
She nodded her head, ‘Just wait! '

I turned away in frustration, I
Could not get an answer straight,
It always sounded mysterious
Like she had a hand in fate,
Since ever she'd come on Astrogoth
The astrologer down the street,
He'd taught a little, but not too much
As Miranda sat at his feet.

‘I doubt that this could be good for you,
These stars and planets and things, '
She looked up once as she used to do
Then down at her finger rings,
There was one for Venus and one for Mars
Uranus and Saturn too,
But the Pluto ring on the other hand
She would keep it hidden from view.

She said that Pluto was in her fifth,
Whatever that meant to me,
And Venus made up a stellium
With Mercury, that was three,
I should have studied the stars myself
To see what she thought she knew,
But I was full of contempt back then
And wouldn't learn anything new.

‘This Astrogoth is a sooth-sayer, '
I said, in one of my moans,
‘He might as well read the Tarot Cards
Or study the chicken bones.'
Miranda gave me the evil eye
And said, ‘But you wouldn't know,
You shut your mind to the finer things
Of the spirit - You'd better go! '

This Astrogoth was a sight to see,
Was growing a foot long beard,
His hair was down to his shoulders, and
To tell you the truth, just weird!
He wore a hoodie with moons and stars
And Saturn too, with its rings,
But I was worried, Miranda too
Was thinking of other things.

The Moon's conjunction with Pluto brought
It all up into the light,
Miranda said she had called us off
But she didn't want us to fight.
She said that there was a meeting there
Of minds, of hearts, enough!
She told me that she was moving on
And in, with Astrogoth!

I sat alone in the flat at night
And I stared in grief at the wall,
I hadn't figured she'd fall for him
Like a leaf in a waterfall,
I heard they'd gone off to Thailand
That he'd bought her another ring,
They must have neglected their horoscopes,
The Tsunami did them in!

7 February 2013