A Game of Cards

[Visit: a YouTube Video of the Poet’s reading]

A game of cards —
eyes on the table sneaking past
the watchful discreetness
of each hand holding on
tight to those hidden cards —
dealt, stolen, forged…
Inside it felt as if
something was wrong,
but I kept on
playing anyway.

All the numbers
do not matter;
a great hand is full
of jacks and kings and queens;
aces like veterans clean
and secure the win —
kill all the numbers,
leave some to serve the later king;
undermine the aces,
sacrifice the jacks,
stab the king in the back,
and hijack the queen —
the royal bed is yours,
today, yet
tomorrow it may not be —
you have become the king —

new players lining up
all the way filling the ring
from numbers you left behind;
unappreciated aces who have their eyes,
too, on your queen;
unworthy cards will one day grow —
Glorious Rome was never short
of a cunning Caesar or a Brutus, cowardly
with eyes seeking only vengeance —
a bout is over; another soon begins.

— —

See also: The Scream Book Blog and The Scream on Amazon