How to Double Your Luck

By Juleigh Howard-Hobson

A tail feather dropped from a rooster that

Was taken by a hawk. An egg shell, broken

Open from being hatched. A cherry, dried

While on the stem. A lock someone forgot

To close. A hair from a child awoken

From nightmares. Lachrymators of tears cried.

A small piece of rock from between the graves

Of a couple who died accidentally—

Whether sickness or calamity slayed

Them—both at the same time. Sea glass from waves

Over shipwreck spots. A twig from a tree

With three bird nests in it. Any luck made,

Any fortune won, will be doubled when

You carry one of these on your person.

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Juleigh Howard-Hobson’s work has appeared in Faerie Magazine, Silver Blade, Illumen, Enchanted Conversation, Eye to the Telescope, Coffin Bell, The 2018 Rhysling Award Anthology, Mandragora (Scarlett Imprint), Weaving the Terrain (Dos Gatos) and other numinous places. The author of five collections, she lives in the cold grey wilds of the Pacific Northwest.