Open Poetry #21 |
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The Gamblers |
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Kevin![]()
since 1999-11-02
Posts 729Torrington, Ct, Usa ![]() |
A single lamp hung from the ceiling dancing with the shadows The spot lit center table sat beneath a cloud of smoke That twisted with the tension of a man strung from the gallows As two sat playing cards awaiting one to go home broke They studied every movement by the man across the table At times forgetting that they should be conscious of their own They rarely took a risk, only took pots when they were able To one mans repressed smile and another’s repressed groan As each began to tire they grew careless with their calm The chips began to gather in the center faster still And though the stone-faced soldiers didn’t trust their tight gripped palm They came back at each other higher than they each would will Before either could answer their conscience’s desperate pleading Each had thrown to center every chip they had amounted And as they sat their stunned each other’s face they remained reading While trying to keep down their heartbeat as each card was counted One by one the first man flipped his cards over with pride All royalty had flaunted itself from his shaking hand Four kings and a queen showed that his face the whole time lied And he sat back as if to prove his ruling of the land His counterpart looked pale as he delayed his own revealing He didn’t move a muscle, instead watched the other smiling But as he reached out for his hand his hurting turned to healing As every flip of card to him grew more and more beguiling An ace of hearts for love he said, it’s always conquered all An ace of spades to join it ‘cause they make quite a cute pair An ace of clubs to follow ‘cause it makes others feel small And the ace of diamonds for the money sitting over there He then flipped up a jack that he insisted was good measure And let a chuckle slip out as he stood up from his seat And bending over slightly he raked up his newfound treasure Then left to let the other dwell upon the grave defeat Ten minutes of silence finally broke to screeching chair And footsteps that ever so slowly left the room for good Leaving nothing but the scent of lingering despair A faded deck of cards and a small table made of wood |
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© Copyright 2002 Kevin Bednarz - All Rights Reserved | |||
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Kevin! Good to see you again! Are you ready to join into the 'Deer, Toe, LJA wars and deal out some poetry that will make them fall over? |
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the_loner_23 Member Ascendant
since 2002-06-08
Posts 5479Jacksonville, Florida, USA |
Awesome Cold hands means a warm heart |
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Kevin![]()
since 1999-11-02
Posts 729Torrington, Ct, Usa |
Hmmm, you think this mele needs a 4th? give me some time |
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Aimster Member Elite
since 2000-02-19
Posts 4297Charlotte, NC |
kev, first nice to see you ![]() reading this piece from you. it is a bit different than most of your work but i enjoyed the imagery and emotion you put into this. lovely. take care. amy ![]() "you can't stop |
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Sunnyone Member Ascendant
since 2000-07-06
Posts 5334Staffordshire, England |
and the dealer takes all!!!! This is a fantastic piece, one that gets the old urge to pull out the cards going!! Enjoyed tremendously, and glad you put it here!!! ![]() Open the door and let your adventure begin!!! |
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