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Open Poetry #7
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Death of a Gambler
| Open Poetry #7 |
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Death of a Gambler |
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John Yaws Senior Member
since 1999-10-09
Posts 860Texas 
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Another grimy hotel room- Another smoky bar… Another game of five card stud… O, cursed , unlucky star! Black frock coat, brocaded vest- Striped pants, comprise my suit. A derringer in my right sleeve, A dirk in my right boot. Long and dusty were the trails Which brought me to this place; Hard, and long, the years, which put These wrinkles on my face. Born in Southern Georgia- In eighteen fifty-one, And after Reconstruction… I had no choice but to run. Riverboats, then Ellsworth- Dodge City, Abilene- From railheads, to the whistle stops And everything between. The Louisiana bayous- And the Arizona sands… It’s all the same, there is no home, When you’re a gambling man. Sitting at the table- On another sleepless night… I’m down , two hundred dollars- And something isn’t right. “Check? or Raise”? I think I’ll call. I know what lies ahead… I saw the dealer palm a card… Soon someone will be dead. “If you’re no slicker with a gun, Than you were, with that trick… Leave your money on the table- Leave, and make it quick”! Too late, I see they have me boxed- Front, and left, and right… I’ll take the dealer with me, as…. I enter Death’s long night. |
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| © Copyright 2000 John R. Yaws - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Wow! You sure do know how to weave a tale, John! Never a disappointment among them! Denise |
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Kellsue Member
since 2000-05-06
Posts 210Waukesha, WI USA |
I've read both your Gambler poems and I just love them!! They are so vivid!! I hope there are more to come! ~Kelly  Reflect upon your present blessings-of which every man has many-not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ~Charles Dickens We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill |
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