from 'The Soothsayer'

I had my fortune told by a gypsy with
A stethoscope. I expected a crystal ball,
A black cat or tarot cards at least.

Instead she sat in a desked room and wore
A white coat. A bottle of fresh blood and
A few gallstones littered her desk

She assured me as she took my pulse that
The blood recently taken could save death.
The gallstones she kept as trophies.

The world is a very puzzling place but there are always fragments here and there, which one can almost understand. This partial understanding is the subject of Elves in the Wainscotting. Although some of the events depicted are bleak, there is a line of optimism running through the work; human relations are the only antidote to despair and anger.