Fate rested on a five-barred gate,
looking appropriately sedate,
chewing a desiccated date,
attempting vainly to placate
an upset maiden, name of Kate.
Kate had been stood up by her date,
who was now fifty minutes late –
they had agreed on half past eight
(he'd gone for drinks with a shipmate,
they mostly put it on the slate)
a habit she had grown to hate,
as much as being overweight.
She also feared the spinster's fate
of failing, by her sell-by date,
to hook a marriage-willing mate,
a destiny all maidens hate
when they desire to propagate.
But fortune sometimes does dictate,
some call it Karma, others fate,
the desired outcome we await
will never come - or much too late!