Fame and Fortune Cookie

"You've got talent but you lack ambition"
is not exactly what I'd call a fortune,
but as I hold it up to candlelight
I wag my head and chortle—That's me all right!
Whoever stuffed this message in my cookie
must have known it would be served to me
instead of to some self-promoting jerk
with zero skill, but lots of will to work:
someone like youknowwho or whatshisname
who plugs away so constantly for fame
they have to ask the waitress for a fork
to shovel up their sweet and sour pork,
while I, with chopsticks, can pick up a dime.
Their fortune reads, "You never waste your time."

Copyright © 2003 Richard Cecil All rights reserved
from River Styx
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission