Like a domino in a rally
Am I part of the team?
Am I next in line?
Am I to stand or do I fall?

Like a domino in a deck
Will I be played?
Will I be laid?
Will I be noticed at all?

Like a domino on the table
Do I fit in?
Do I join up?
Do I answer the call?

Like a domino shuffled around
Can I adapt?
Can I settle back in?
Can I hold back the gall?

Like a domino in the box
Should I feel safe?
Should I like the dark?
Should I welcome the pall?

©pofacedpoetry – Billy Reynard-Bowness (2018) – all right’s reserved

Sandra works the slots all day
Smoking cigarettes; taking free drinks
Feeding the bandits instead of her soul…
Knowing it's daylight, somewhere!
Ken throws craps; blackens the Jack
Winks sickly at the cocktail waitress
Imagines doing things way past his prime…
Knowing it's nighttime, somewhere!
Passing hours like their years
Bathed in sticky syrup distraction
Dismount stool, lurch; pin-***** pupils
They meet at the buffet; tepid, bland
As their vacation; their marriage
Mid-life shape shifting sand!

© pofacedpoetry – Billy Reynard-Bowness (2018) – All rights reserved

I will not leave anything
So mean as a promise to you.
Nor with trifles, stand trembling
And suffer penance
Below your bastion box.

But I am now hard-put
And sweet meats the dearer to me for it.

The lamps in the parlour are doused;
She has emptied them of gas--
Critical, unforgiving crone!
And left me alone in the house.
Does she mean this be for good?

She has called me “disgraced”
And thinks that her going
Will “purge this taint”
From my soul.
But I shall go on as I have,
Doing the right things
At the wrong time,
As is my genius,
Until the chloral takes me,
You forgive me,
Or night falls.

I used to not understand why people got so upset over breakups.
I mean, there are 6 billion people on earth.
There’s bound to be another one that fits the bill.

Then it happens.
You like someone.
And they chase you.
Get you into something you never planned.
You decide to give it a shot.
You take a gamble.
Then , Boom!  they’re gone.

That stuff hurts.
Often, pain comes from emotions we don’t understand.
Things which don’t make sense.
Our body deals with it somewhere in the stomach.
Gut feelings.

Me, I am a gambler.
You have to take shots in life.
Sometimes they work out.
Other times, they don’t.
But if you never push in all your chips
You don’t have a chance at winning the ***.

Not this time.
Maybe next time.

Rock’n’roll radio died
Between gasoline riffs
I love Texan poker
She smiled with classic liquors
Realise that I want your lips
Gamble success where strangers bleed
Roadside taboo
Lay bare, please,
I want to give you one hot date

Comedy or tragedy?
It’s the entertainment of death
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry
You’ll live, you’ll die
Either way, who is to say?
Either way, bet on your guess

Four points on a circle
Spin the wheel
It won’t feel real
It will get you sick
So, take your pick
Fortune is yours to make
It is yours to take

Life is a casino
You’re playing poker
Like they do in Texas
Hold ‘em, fold ‘em,
Hit ‘em, bid on ‘em,
Play pentacles
Then the cards with cups
But someone just yelled *******
And the guy across from you
Just bet all on blue
Time to go round two

**** the dealer
Dance with the Devil
Kiss coincidence
Flirt with fate
Lady Luck might notice you yet

Red or black
Get something back
Double or nothing
Best your blessings
Cut your wins
And count your losses

Until the final game
Comes down to good luck,
Bad luck,
Or something beyond control
Bet on black to start
Then go straight for the heart