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Vegas be Damned!


Vegas took him off the board at 80.
As the cards were dealt each day, passersby
would swear the deck was stacked –
against him.  Fate had, for some reason,
chosen him to constantly be in the line
that closed for lunch, watching the bus
he just missed - leave.  Youth, street kid,
pin setter in a bowling alley, living at the
kindness of friends parents, eating as the
opportunity presented.  17, enlisted,
good duty, three hots and a cot.  Re-enlisted,
war, Korea, PTSD (before it was PTSD).
Discharged, returned to the streets of
his youth – no longer a youth.  The drink,
elixir of the damned, damnation of the
scarred, comforter of the comfortless.
Arrests and jail time, flop houses, back
to the streets.  Early in his forties, fate’s
dealer broke open a new deck.  A chance
meeting, a choice, an unsteady walk,
a door, into a new life.  Get well jobs,
dishwasher, grave digger, volunteer.
A 75 dollar car, an apartment of his
own, friends, and fellowship.  Another
better job, 30 years later, retirement
at age 75.  A birthday party shared with
friends - many half his age of 84.  He
still walks the streets of his youth
proudly, thinks of those who, unlike him,
were not as fortunate.  Those who succumbed
to the rigors of life, and death, the unseen
wounds that never healed, the hopelessness
of a stacked deck.  He laughs a lot, has a
bit of a skip in his step, a wry smile on his
face, an MBTA Charlie Card in his wallet,
and a plan to be a part of this day.
Vegas be damned!

John G. Lawless
10/18/2014
for Gautami Phookan – Sketch a Character – Poetry Contest

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