I went back to the Six Sentence Cafe & Bistro and found the tall, thin man setting the automaton up in the foyer as Doctor Zoltan Mystic and Seer who apparently could answer any question for 25 cents though he specialized in fortunes.
Finding a quarter in my pocket, I asked Zoltan, “What does a poem consist of?” and Zoltan raised up a card upon which I read: RHYME, METER AND HEART, BUT YOU BETTER USE THE PROMPT WORD FOIL SOMEWHERE IN THIS TALL TALE OF YOURS BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF SENTENCES.
Wow, I thought, that was a more accurate answer than AI would have given me.
Perhaps reading my mind Zoltan gratuitously raised up another card upon which I read: I CAN EVEN WRITE THAT POEM FOR YOU AND FAKE THE HEART JUST LIKE YOU WOULD.
Wondering now if he was any better than AI, I inserted another quarter to ask him if he ever ran out of cardboard stock upon which he wrote those messages.
Up popped another card which read: HOW WOULD I KNOW?
Denise offers the prompt word “foil” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.
Poetry, Short Prose and Walking 