Every week, my dearest day
is when my buddies and I partake and play
our regular contest of cards.
What's great about codgers and cards
that would make an old duffer's day
and inspire pensioners to play?
I dunno, but I think I will peacefully play
with these jokers, and cut ups, and cards,
and these goofballs till my dying day.
It's our day - time to play cards - goodbye!
If you go to the store
Most places say to pay by card
Because the government is
Trying to do away with cash
And paper, think about it
If one day something happens
To the satellites, how will you be able to
Get your money, pay your bills
Buy food, just survive because
It would shut the whole country down
So how would you live
the smile on that bear’s face picked up the Christmas pace
A card from the fifties, yet it still holds love and grace
Who mailed this card? From whom could this treasure be?
I never found out, though I tried to through 1993
Finally deciding it did not matter whatsoever
This Christmas card lightens the worst weather
The smile on this whimsical polar bear
Tells me that someone does love me and care
WAS CINDERELLA
RUINED BY THE BIG FELLA
ENDS UP JUST SMELLA
RED CARD IT IS NOT
THAT IS WHAT DONALD TRUMP THOUGHT
DID NOT HELP A LOT
I don't know what a red card is
but know when a foul called is foul
and I know who to call to fix it!
I see the words you love me
Every single day
I use them in my mind
The same old usual way
The words that were once hidden
But in my mind finally given
Words at once I thought forbidden
A way for dreams to start their living
I carry the envelope for in it I found
The words of love that said aloud
Soon one day behind the clouds
I’ll find the love dressed in a shroud
My feelings within me leap with joy
The feelings of children getting a toy
I read the words everyday
Deep inside me did she say it that way
I long to reach her once and for all
To say I love her before I fall
I wonder if these words will reach her eyes
And find her loving with great surprise
And then we’ll wonder where love will be spent
On a telephone or papers sent
Where to hold hands when to ask for a kiss
Is it for fun or is my heart really lite
With these words I’ve given not lent
I hope for always to find an even split
A trade between would be lovers
A find for the searching finally uncovered
The deck of cards seemed alive in my hands.
I loved the whisper of shuffling, and
the way kings and queens stared back,
their faces older than anything I knew.
I built castles from fanned-out suits,
believing they could hold real wishes.
Every card I turned felt like a doorway~
a little spell I was certain I had cast.
the accompanying memoir vignette can be read at: poetrysoup.com/short_stories/casino_night_13716
dealing out the cards
on a checkered bridge table...
Mom's favorite
We die
but once
while living
through a horror
a thousand times
We die
but once
ignoring
what our freedom
most defines
All life’s
a choice
our future claimed
when dealt
at our behest
Another
chance
to beat the dealer
the trump card
— in our vests
(Septa R5: March, 2026)
I penned you a series of cards,
each inspired by The Great Bard.
But tricked by my muse,
when his insults I used,
left my valentine hopes charred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Granny’s recipe card is splattered with butter,
the ink blurred where her thumb pressed too soon~
butter, sugar, flour—all accounted for.
What’s missing is the way she hummed
off-key hymns between sifted clouds,
how the kitchen held its breath
when she cracked an egg one-handed.
The cinnamon? Yes.
But not the weight of her sigh
when the dough resisted,
nor the way her wedding band
left a faint silver streak in the batter.
The streusel is just crumbs and brown sugar,
unless you count the dust of her laughter
as she scolded me for sneaking bites
of raw dough between my teeth.
Bake at 375º, the card says,
but not how long to wait
after the oven light goes dark,
after the scent stops being hers
and becomes just a memory.
*If you'd like to read the accompanying memoir vignette, you may do so at poetrysoup.com/short_stories/intangible_ingredients_13578
for My Funny Valentine Poetry Contest-Sponsored by: Andrea Dietrich
---------------------------------------
i once got a valentine's day card
perfume covered, i was caught off guard
i knew not who it was from
but i still beat my own drum
a mates funny joke, which i starred
A rose bunch heavy in my hand,
A card sent, did not reach the land,
My darling could not understand;
I pray for my star,
Stuck against the wall
I dare make a call,
No reply at all,
And yet here we are!
.
one day of the year
to validate your true love~
taken for granted
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