Author's notes: Just a little bit of fun based on my favorite author. A series of blank-verse poems in the style of the aphorisms found in Chinese fortune cookies. One for each of ten Dickens novels.
Dickens for the Wise
Great Expectations
Having expectations
too high
leads to regret.
David Copperfield
Marry the pretty wife
brings trouble.
Marry the useful woman
brings success.
A Christmas Carol
Living past, present, and future
all in one night brings repentance.
Good fortune.
Bleak House
Beware the lawsuit
that lasts years.
Fortune will be drained.
A Tale of Two Cities
The man who
does all for love
finds the better thing.
Nicholas Nickleby
Wise men say,
"Never trust an
uncle named Ralph."
Pickwick Papers
A servant named Sam
will bring wise counsel
to the clueless man in gaiters.
Little Dorrit
Life in a debtors' prison
is better than wealth
in the hands of the unwise.
The Old Curiosity Shop
The death
of the innocent
brings many tears.
Oliver Twist
Innocent boys make
bad pickpockets, but
the artful one dodges.