We played rummy, and we played gin.
I was doing well for the shape I’m in.
We played in the car, we played in the house.
Over my foot ran a strange little mouse.
Why didn’t you get it? My husband asked me.
I was too busy, as you can plainly see.
I gambled my car and other things too.
Husband got silent as he lost his good shoe.
We were now playing poker, husband and me.
We are ahead, I announced expectantly.
I overbid. We lost our sweet house.
So now it’s their problem, that strange little mouse.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.