Chinese Fortune Cookie

by Camille

Cracked open,
slipping out the slender paper,
I reveal its cryptic message:
A single word, hat, and the number 46391.
Its meaning, I begin to ponder.
First, the hat.
What it looks like, does it matter?
Large or small?
Brim or brimless?
Made of straw or wool?
For baseball or business?
Perhaps it is the act of bending down
to retrieve a wind-blown hat on the ground
and dodging a bullet, or perhaps
discovering the hat's owner,
a soon-to-be friend or a new-found lover
that truly matters.
And the number.
Digits to play the lottery? And if I win,
shall it be payable in dollars or renminbi?
Could it be a new address on a cul-de-sac
or a new zip code? A chance to meet new neighbors.
Truly, my fortune is the fortunes of possibilities.
I pocket it.