Braise
Mysterious loses
Pleasing, tempting, teasing
Planting, affluents blue gold
Treasure
Memories turned bittersweet
Starting to make the room smell with the foul stench of our corpse’s rotting meat
Here lie our bodies in a vicious defeat
Shall we take a seat?
As our time seems to be up
With the little life around our remains
We might still flip a dime
I choose tails to make you mine
You choose heads to put us to bed
That’s how we wound up dead
Finally put our sob story to a tragic end
Headlights stream along the strip
Late night dreamers on a trip
Neon lights shining bright
Everyone's feeling lucky tonight
Crowds bustle on the sidewalk
Wild laughter & small talk
Silhouettes smoking cigarettes
Pink Cadillacs & red Corvettes
High rollers & classy chicks
Cowboys getting their kicks
Sharks in suits
Snakeskin boots
The Devil’s drawing them in
Tempting them with sin
He’s playing them all
Watching them fall
He begins his dance
Playing with chance
Gambling with their soul
He lets the dice roll
All bets are on seven
A trip to heaven
Only the dice will tell
Who’s going to hell
Hundred dollar bills
Whiskey & wild thrills
Burning with desire
The city’s on fire
she loses a lot, my ex-friend Dot
a barefaced poker player
but stop she cannot
she has lost her house
she has lost her mind
she has lost her family,
Gambling Clementine
health insurance
life insurance
flood insurance
when we buy it
we don’t need it
for months or maybe years
car insurance
the highest premiums of all
we who purchase this are penalized by those who don’t
insurance
the biggest gambling game in town
Sitting at the blackjack table
Blowing the best years of his life
One card at a time
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2025
It's Friday
I sit patiently
There is a feeling of hope
TODAY WILL BE THE DAY
but I know it wont
I feel more alive
on the losses
then on the wins
There is no joy in winning
I am not sure why
Its the pit in my stomach losing
that I keep repeating
I always know the outcome
yet I sit there
numb to the money
being sucked up like a vacuum
I see it leave
but I am frozen
in my seat
My feet do not move
I want to leave
I just watch
unaware of the hours that have passed
of the time wasted
I could be outside
with the sun on my face
I could be eating an amazing meal
All the what if's
flow through my mind
I sit in my chair
Deaf dumb and blind.
Having a run, but not in hand,
Excited for I know my prize is grand.
It’s time to draw, but not from the deck,
I drew too much, now my figure’s a wreck.
Making lines, my soul further in debts,
I add more lines, I like placing bets.
Instead of pounds, I use my own,
A little more cautious, now down to the bones.
A little on edge, for my cover mustn’t be blown,
Acting as stoic as possible,
Expression like stone.
I try and do my best bluff,
But maybe I didn’t try hard enough.
I might tap-out, for luck’s not in my favour,
My turn is overdue, I should’ve signed that waiver.
Knowing if I lose, the cost will be major,
But I’m not too scared,
For my life is something I often wager.
Shelly had a lucky break once
She won thirty thousand dollars at a casino in Nebraska.
It was not enough.
A prime to her pump.
She has been trying to do it again for the past fifty years.
Shelly has never had enough money to buy a house.
She has never bought a car.
She lives with her daughter and her grandsons.
She leased a car for a while.
One week at a time, but she lost it.
Where did the thirty thousand dollars go?
She lost it to the casino the same week she won it.
My name's ANGIE, are you listening?
I grew up listening to that group called Rolling Stones
I was told you're wasting your time by dreaming
They never knew how harsh they were with those tones.
YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
Words they thought were normal for dreamers
I didn't see why not, nothing could stop that
Until one RUBY TUESDAY I was caught with dealers.
Saw WILD HORSES flex with TUMBLIN DICE
Thinking I'd now be one of the HONKY TONK WOMEN
I didn't think I'd be caught playing with fire in ice
Next to the stolen car he said "PAINT IT BLACK".
The policeman on the other side is on my track
Asking, "how did she escape UNDER MY THUMB?"
I didn't know there would be no going back
It was a once-off deal but I guess that too was dumb.
You offered me wings
I clung to pristine majesty
Sometimes it has to end
Gambling and whiskey never
Left a night any less lonesome
I'm still torn up inside
The avenue and alleys
Were once all that really mattered
You offered me wings and I
clung to the sky
She gambled on you
She walked a bridge too far
You didn't feel it true
It was too high a bar
She could have tried talking
That way she would've known
Behind your infatuation
Real affection hadn't grown
She thought there was a bond
A mystical dream
But the wizard lost his wand
You were just a prop in the scene
She dreamed of a fire
You by her side
But love was a liar
Reason should guide.
She raised the stake
But gambling's a sin
with two eyes on the snake
The house has to win
Now it’s too late
To rewrite the part
She wagered on fate—
Then embittered her heart
I know we all get burnt
But I wish it hadn't gone so far
Lessons have to be learnt
Only Fate held the cards.
I'm not ashamed
but I need to know
why I'm detoxing from
all these dopamine pumps
how could you
not be included in
the mix that
keeps me from
feeling
this backlog
of pain
Carpal tunnel twinges
punctuate a torpid afternoon,
as row on row we line the aisles
and stare at nothing
with the guarded anonymity
of urinating men.
My thumb is on the lever,
moving almost imperceptibly,
as marbles rocket into space
and filter down
through obstacles designed
to keep the management in business.
The captive of a chain reaction
freed from craving by acceptance
of the preordained,
I decompose, am compromised,
incorporated by the convolutions
of this artificial universe.
But something breaks
the moment I let go.
The single thread
that holds the world in place is cut,
and once again I fall away
with all my individual needs exposed.
Japan, 1968
Previous version published in Outposts, England
I said just this once,
Just one more game.
But the more that I gave,
The more it pulled me in.
Every spin of the reel,
Every light on the wheel,
Held a promise so real,
That I couldn't feel.
I watched numbers blur,
Felt time slip away,
Betting on tomorrow,
Losing today.
In the glow of the screen,
I chased a bright lie,
As the winnings grew thin,
And the losses ran high.
I told myself "quit,"
But the pull was too strong,
The hope of a win,
Dragged me along.
Now I'm tangled in regret,
A web I can't break,
A jackpot of losses,
And more than just stakes.
If I could turn back,
If I could rewind,
I'd trade every chance,
To find peace of mind.
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