Fortune Cookie Madness

For NaPoWriMo Day 13, I followed the prompt and wrote a poem inspired by fortune cookies. I used the website http://www.myfortunecookie.co.uk/ to randomly generate fortunes since I don't have any fortune cookies at home. I just kept clicking and collecting fortunes until I finally came up with today's poem.

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Fortune Cookie Madness

"Expand your horizons,"
my fortune cookie said.

"Where should I go?" I joked,
"I guess not back to my bed."

"This is the time for caution,
but not for fear," another fortune read.

Perhaps I need to change myself,
my thoughts filled with dread.

"Conquer your fears, or they will
conquer you," yet another fortune replied.

"Can you read my mind?" I asked.
I resisted opening another; I really tried.

"Don't let your mind wander - it's too little
to be out alone" were the written words.

Did it just make fun of me?
I huffed, ready to cross swords.

"Your greatest fortune is the friends
and family you have" is all it said to me.

"True, but don't change the subject!"
I yelled as I broke open another cookie.

"Every solution breeds new problems,"
retorted another piece of paper.

"What does that mean?" I asked,
ready to crush the fortune into vapor.

"A lifetime isn't nearly long enough
to figure out what it's all about," it replied.

Did it just say I'm stupid?
This insult I would not brush aside.

My cheeks red and eyes flashing,
I ripped open the last fortune cookie,

"Take a rest; you deserve it,"
the only words I could see.

I sat back in my chair and stared
at the pile of broken cookies
and little papers strewn everywhere.
Maybe I'm going crazy, I thought,
then followed its advice and lay down my head.