Today’s prompt from Read Write Poem was to write a poem about an old flame – in this case, it is more like two little sparks.
Poker
Thursdays after school
the four of us met
- two boys, two girls -
in the Smiths’ fruit cellar,
a concrete place
that never smelled of fruit
but more of canvas
and old leather.
The bare bulb over
our makeshift table
cast hard shadows
beneath our eyes
and along our noses
but we dealt the cards
and learned to say the words:
Feed the kitty. Deuces wild.
Up the ante. Aces high.
See you. Raise you.
Stand pat.
Fold.
How quick the change
from climbing trees
and building forts.
Our bets were small.
We were 12 years old
and the words had only
one meaning -
it was time to bluff.
Tags: NaPoWriMo · Poetry · Read Write Poem9 Comments
oh.
i love, love, love this.
Great layering of images ~ builds up a really vivid picture!
I like the layers in this.
And although not a poker player, I really enjoyed the pacing in these lines -
“Feed the kitty. Deuces wild.
Up the ante. Aces high.
See you. Raise you.
Stand pat.
Fold.”
Wonderful. Thanks.
Nice! The second stanza really stood out to me
The tension of the poker game is undercut by the inherent sense of fun and the not-quite-yet “innocence lost” as I read this. Love it and love the comments.
I like this, too.
And I love the last stanza–the words had only one meaning…
those were the days.
This flows really well and the last stanza is simply amazing.
Poker? I hardly know her!
Oh, I do like this one. Such an interesting way to discuss innocence lost. The lament in the last stanza lingers as if it is still time to bluff.