#poker
She knew how to play cards
and she played them, so well
from a knowledge of odds
and a smile, that's her spell
Winning the game
with a kiss, and wink
never forgetting her name
so, why can't I think?
As under her glamour
she spins with a chip
coming down like a hammer
as I'm losing my grip
Walkin the walk
away with the cash
talkin the talk
as I....burn....and crash
Apr 21, 2025
Apr 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM UTC
There is this feeling I’ve never felt.
Given one less card when cards were dealt.
A constant gambling poker game,
Not for money, nor for fame.
This **** was rigged at the start.
The lost feeling was love, joy in my heart.
It’s taught by some mothers but never mine.
I pity the souls who were raised in kind.
I love others; don’t be mistaken.
But it feels like love for myself was taken,
Away by my mother, or maybe God.
Either way, I think it’s rather odd.
The way I was treated. The way I was raised.
The way that, despite that, my mother was praised.
My dad, he’s alright, but I think he should
Stand up for himself, for his own good.
It’s not my fault, but I’m given credit,
For my parents’ emotional deficit.
Regardless of where my poker game started.
I hope I can win, when I’m departed.
Mar 7, 2025
Mar 7, 2025 at 9:31 PM UTC
I know that for now you don't see much
In yourself, and that the touch
Of God on your head seems quite far
You still cry each day so hard
The clouds are struggling to keep up
And you just went all in pre-flop
On yourself, in life, decided to become a giver
To yourself, flow with the river
Play the cards you have been given
And the devil's bluffing well
Deceiving you people can tell
How horrible you're deep inside
And you can try but you can't hide
Your real self, maybe only from yourself
But they all see,
You are despair and scarcity
And doomed to die a nobody
But just you wait, the love you seek
Will be revealed on the fourth street
You'll see him back away a bit
You'll see some hope and all his ********
And just before the river comes
He'll give it all his chips and curse
The blessings coming up,
Trying to make you give up
Do not turn back, you know your worth
You have been love ever since birth
Keep your conviction, show your cards
The river will make him run yards
And you will flow and see that your scars
Are actually part of the compass
Guiding you to the love inside
About one thing he was right
From yourself you cannot hide
And now you see quite easily
The love and freedom that you seek
Were all in you straight from the start
Congrats, that is actually the whole ***
You won't hear it outside heaven but
God is amazed, screams out your name
And just says **** what a nice play".
_M.
Sep 25, 2024
Sep 25, 2024 at 7:26 AM UTC
Whose lie will do less damage?
Nothing personal, it's all political.
Hard rock mine real estate, mind state,
less turmoil, after the blast, settling dust,
grand fluffy occlusions in purple sunsets,
as the herds return to sleeping grounds.
Kinds flock together, all united
under the kinds that shepherd flocks
to fleece them in season and out,
instant,
"Preach the word;
be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort
with all longsuffering and doctrine."
Live and learn, or turn and burn
with desire to know where curiosity leads
life out of mind.
Biological means life logos using
Meat machines to make up mind's
Machinations,
PIE *magh-ana- "that which enables,"
from root *magh- "to be able, have power."
"we wrestle messengers, and make 'em pay"
Wille zur Machts misthoughts fog,
into which the white horse disappeared,
leaving the illiterate hedge hog in the clear.
Have you never invited a story to live in you,
did you never attempt to memorize
Casey at bat, or Paul Revere's ride?
At the base, most least highest part of you,
at the sole
of the foot you stand upon,
tree pose, suppose, imagining balance
is a system that makes your spirits rise,
and imbalance attempts prevention,
by increasing the will
to believe I can remain so posed, great
iffing ego boost, foul form
of gaseous wedom
given a good convincing win
in puberty, while transitioning
to fructificating adult…
aha, the man
in the mirror, sees the child
wondering as if wonder were a verb won
by one willing to see if one can see
beneath the blindfold, in the classic game
was it blind man's bluff, or pin the tail,
one of those everybody knows but me games,
popular in ****** forms of making others laugh
at our blindness,
so we all learn a kind
of way we all are different, a way
some find funny as blind poker players.
Is this the tell, can we think we see you lie
?
¿
Is an a a take away, as amaze,
lifts one above
around astounding stories
with miracles fixed dogma used
to judge from, after the last Trump
about the time grace is defined
in religious prep
as unworked for favor, like
"money for nothin' and chicks for free"
but far more culturally refined,
more Trumpian
big iron American, real estate,
hard core fixed military order
where only
rank matters,
at the last judgement, that's the tell,
is what a gnat thinks
of an elephant controversial?
Can a gnat make an elephant scratch?
Ai, in the blink of an eye, watch.
Here's mud in your face,
big disgrace, a flea madjaphlench… yo? Y'know?
Earth to the Universe, listen,
there is really too much to take on trust.
True rest, does not allow a liar to lead an army.
Aug 9, 2024
Aug 9, 2024 at 12:53 PM UTC
• (preface) . Ante Up •
Never Gamble with more
than you can afford to lose
• Prologue : The Deal •
From the dusty haze
between mirage waves
of shimmering heat
in the desert air
refracting red shifted rays
of the horizonal sun
bouncing off the highway
appears an indigent itinerant,
who’s seen better days,
walking alone
at a leisurely pace
west towards sunset
and night and escape
without baggage or burden
beyond his distempered ways.
He comes suddenly upon an unexpected place- hitherto unseen by light of day:
• I: The Flop •
"LIQUOR IN THE FRONT!
$ POKER IN THE BACK $"
...The flashing neon sign proclaims
From behind the dingy pane
Of a curtained window
By a door to nowhere safe;
With a sign that hangs
Underneath it saying-
"Open Buy, Table Stakes,
No Limit Hold’em
Come on in and Play!"
-And just beneath that,
Scratched into the widow,
(In an unsettling scrawl)
{By a steady hand}
[with a razor sharp blade…]
It says
“There’s NO LIMIT to WHAT you can WIN”
...
"That does sound tempting"
So you do go in.
Everytime…
And you’re greeted with a “Hello friend!”
By a bartender standing by himself,
in an empty room,
Cuffs rolled up and forearms wet
polishing glassware and tins with a towel;
One That’s seen too many rims
and broken glasses and spilled drinks,
and blood and tears and ***** sinks
It could NOT be clean,
but **** it,” you think,
"How bad could it be?"
Might be why Ain’t nobody in here...
But never-you-mind, 'cause the ***** is cheap…
“Can I get you something, bub?
I got some real-deal-hillbilly-moonshine,"
He says with a grin.
"Just come in; straight from Kentucky, with a fine batch of single-barrel bourbon, too.
Let's see, What else? ... Some Cuban ***
French vermouth;
Cognac, Port, Brandy...
Shoot!
I got a bottle of Chicago's finest!
Authentic bathtub gin - from the secret stash,
no less,
of Al Capone's best lady-friend.
Might even have a little tequila still sloshing around the jug.
We got some stuff,
but the pickings are getting slim.
... Also champagne
if that's your thing.
Milwaukee beer in a can."
"By the way, just so you know
There's a cash game going,
but it already began;
You can head back, if you want…
They've probably only played one hand.”
At that, he motions to a vinyl-padded door
lit green, with a red light glow
spilling across the floor below,
ominously from under the jamb.
“Should I get a drink
and play a few?” You think,
“I don’t have much to lose.
And what if
I win?”
• II.. The Turn •
It’s a gamble, going all in
It’s a big risk to take,
But if it pays off man
god ****
You got it made
And the hand looks good,
(it always does)
But this fella’s poker face…
It's uncanny, and
You cannot read a thing.
It’s like he’s made of stone
Not a single tell; not any kinda way…
And this ******* devil-man
Always calls.
He plays his hand in every game;
Never sits out a round.
Throws his money down,
Takes his cards,
Folds his hands,
Then he just
... Sits back …
… And he waits …
… And every hand he plays,
It seems the game is strange,
In some unexpected way -
like cards you thought you had
aren't the same when you look again
But you can’t remember if, or when, it changed.
It might’ve been
you just seen 'em wrong,
But either way,
the card you need is gone;
And just when you notice-
He’ll look away,
And then back at you,
As if to say,
“I call your bluff kid, turn em up.
Let’s see this hand you played.
What’re you holding
That Made you think
you could win a game
I ******* made.”
• .IİI. The River •
You’re playing too fast and loose …
Like you ain’t afraid
But you should be …
‘Cause You ****** up
Too Bad the Bet’s Been Made
• IV.:. The Showdown •
...And then He wins;
And when He wins
you can’t defend the hand you held
In any way.
He takes his chips and stacks em up.
He doesn’t have anything else to say.
He doesn’t gloat; he just
… ******* smiles…
And He watches your face:
As you sit and you stare
and you think good and hard
about the mistake that you just made.
Read ‘em and weep - It’s his favorite part.
It’s his little art:
Watching a soul
get crushed…
"…Ugh…"
“…Again!?!”
• Epilogue - Wanna Buy Back In? •
Never
Pay More To Play
Than What You Stand To Win
Jan 22, 2024
Jan 22, 2024 at 4:03 PM UTC
Devil's roll the dice,
playing a card game meant for three
I sit a cross from them
playing cards, idly.
When asked why I lay in Hell,
I pause and stare at thee,
and ask you back
"Where else can I lie?
trying to imbibe,
the devil's game
is where I want to be."
Sep 9, 2023
Sep 9, 2023 at 5:20 PM UTC
The whole world's playing a game of poker
And I'm dealt a strange, confusing hand
I don't want to be mediocre,
I make rash moves, which were never planned
Inevitable, I fail each test,
To start over, again and again
So I'll keep my cards close to my chest
Hoping that this time, it won't be in vain.
Mar 5, 2022
Mar 5, 2022 at 9:15 AM UTC
What is expected from me?
You were the half that chose to leave
I'll do my best
Be your friend
Even if leading to another dead end
Never thought we would wash up where we are
Two separate shores
Watching you from afar
Be truthful with me
That is what I most desire
Sick of the games
Frustrated
Tired
Fake way through a familiar apology
Promising to be the man I know you'll never be
Like a rolling dice
Have many faces
Expert at bluffing yet you're always holding aces
You gamble my love
About time you lose
My heart not an object to pull apart or use
I'm sick of betting my chips
The poorest hand
For you I go all-in
Don't even understand
I never was good at cards
At least that is what I'm told
Probably should cut my losses
Say farewell and finally fold
Sep 7, 2021
Sep 7, 2021 at 11:51 AM UTC
“Ah you hate to see another tired man / Lay down his hand / Like he was giving up the holy game of poker”
Leonard Cohen
<>
“Will I remain within God's house at night as shadows drift through dimming my light?”
written by Weeping Willow, gifted to me, by Edmund Black
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I,
***instant understanding, perhaps in my experiential possess,
some answerings perhaps...product of late night, many, many
theological arguments over poker games, with coarse men,
tough women, and ethically-challenged Gods, all faithful regular attendees
With a little bit o’ luck from an occasional guardian angel, even
I possess an occasional winning hand.
now we all commence with a passionate uttered blessing,
for the good beer and salty pretzels, giving thanks for having
reached this act-exact moment of being, here and now, in God’s house at night, plus a holy add-on variation, a swear-to-god (we all snicker) promise solemn, no cheating, no absolutely divine peeking/spying in soulful futures, no fun in that, sanctified & sealed with hearty amens and ****** noises offered for emphasis.
hear you scratching you head, wondering what all this to do
with a whispered prayer of soulful, on-shore drilling deep,
product of a drill bit cutting the black quietude of interstellar voids internal, where there is no censorship, lying an impossibility, and the only questions are super hard, so some never return with an answer truthful
so, I remain in God’s House, playing poker, with deities who
jealous guard their moments as human facsimiles...cherishing humans who guard with care, an ability to see that they and gods differ little, when making honest truth a shared primacy
in the intimacy
of an overnight stay
in God’s house at night,
all our coming-led light dims,
when my/their need is greatest***!
(written sometime this year, Jan. 2021, Manhattan)
~~~~
Apr 13, 2021
Apr 13, 2021 at 6:36 PM UTC
some say this building had issues with the temperature anyway
but most would agree
this heat was not brought on by the typical Houston air
he walks in to the beat of the trickling chips around him
heads turn for the new, the old already know how it goes down
some get up before he sits
only to make sure their pocket linings stay
the sweat on their forehead tells it all
who has the nerve to face the boy?
an hour in of back and forth
shuffles
murmurs
eyes only on him as he moves
their mouths ajar, he bets all in without a flinch
the atmosphere is flipped within a card
an uproar of "shocked but not surprised" flows through the room
as he leaves with money in one hand, and all the cheers in the other
the room falls silent faster than the door can close
just with one phrase that slips through the crack
"the boy is in rare form tonight"
Dec 25, 2020
Dec 25, 2020 at 9:33 PM UTC
The King with the axe
And the Suicide Jack
Are always worth a wild
Doubled down
Take a hit
And always wear
A smile
Snake eye roll
Crows eye view
Luck is a lady
Me and you
And the devil too
Now deal those cards!
Oct 31, 2020
Oct 31, 2020 at 6:01 AM UTC
She got dealt a bad hand in life.
But she didn’t fold.
She kept playing.
She didn’t walk away from the table,
And leave the casino like she should have.
She keeps playing the hand life dealt her.
And she’s slowly going into debt.
Deeper in the game until one day she won’t be able to play anymore.
She’ll be out of money.
Out of cards.
I just pray it doesn’t come to that.
I want her to fold.
Leave the table.
Leave that lifestyle behind her.
Count her losses and move on with her life.
There’s more to life than that hand that life dealt her.
I just wish she could sober up long enough to see it.
I just wish she could see that there’s so much more to life than the hand that she was dealt.
Sep 5, 2020
Sep 5, 2020 at 12:16 PM UTC
... If my relationship was a game of cards...
Five cards hit the table
Right there in front of me
Like fortunes' greatest table
The game of the century!
She's my Lady-Luck incarnate
Its all Aces with her
Companion, Lover, and Mate
Together, our fate to master.
Though when we met
None of this was planned
Now its an all-in bet
And she's my winning hand!
May 25, 2020
May 25, 2020 at 12:08 PM UTC
A world of wonder and possibility
illuminated by the light of uncertainty.
The adrenaline rush of taking a chance
only to lose it all by the cards in your hands.
It's a dangerous game to play if you choose;
to roll the dice, to win or lose.
Place everything on the table.
The higher the stakes, the more exciting it gets.
Your mental health entirely unstable
until the others call their bets.
The roll of the die, the shuffle of cards capturing your attention.
Debt fluctuating by a single move; silence strangled by tension.
Fancy beverages surround everyone
enlightening the experience more every time you finish one.
A simple game based entirely on luck,
and when you are losing, you don't give a ****
But it only takes a little for your luck to run fully dry
and for you to lose everything in a silly game.
With no money left for the chips you need to buy,
nothing will ever be the same.
Oct 6, 2019
Oct 6, 2019 at 8:16 PM UTC
Some people are like snakes
Or
A poker game with high stakes.
Jan 26, 2019
Jan 26, 2019 at 5:01 PM UTC
There was a time I told you,
Of all that ached inside;
The things I held so scared,
To all the world I’d hide.
But they became your weapons,
And slowly I have learnt,
The less that is said the better,
The lesser I’ll be hurt.
Of all you’ve used against me,
The worst has been my words.
There are things I’ll never tell you,
And it is sad to think it so;
The more you come to know me-
The lesser you will know.
-Lang Leav
Nov 28, 2018
Nov 28, 2018 at 2:25 PM UTC
Games on,
and a lot of players are playing games,
but the jokes on you if your card’s the Fool,
don’t be read can’t blame the player blame the game,
so spin the wheel pick a number,
act it out name that tune,
but don’t debate what the haters say,
because love will conquer all,
because at the end of the day,
that’s all that really matters,
so show me what’s real now,
or see you later…
∆ LaLux ∆
Sep 26, 2018
Sep 26, 2018 at 6:46 PM UTC
To strum this guitar is for naught. Strumming the strum of the guitar of the guitar. The the guitar is for naught. For naught is the strum. Strumming strum strummy in the strum of the of the guitar.
Would she be enticed? She would be strumming. Would she be be strumming the strum of the guitar? She would not be the the strum. I strum the D and the A strums the B and it all comes to the G string. Would I not if I did strum the G if I strummed it so?
Yes.
Yes.
No.
Maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe yes.
Maybe yes.
Maybe maybe maybe no.
No.
NO.
Shall I have a glass of jack and coke? If I should not should I strum the G of the jack of the jack and the coke? Should she be she be not? Do I dare to entice? If I should dare to not should should I find the jack?
I should call should I call if I do if I don’t? What have I to do but strum and strum and drink and drink and think of the flat note? I will call. Will it pickup?
The taste of Jack is acquired it is. It is acquired and acquired and not for her. She’s a rosé and what can it be that a cheap whisky can amount to a fine wine? It cannot and I cannot. I cannot and will I call will I again?
Will I strum strum the gun of the sun? Will I find the gun will it find the sun and will it it will not find her?
How about a game of poker? I play a mean game a game I play. Please please do play with me. If you would please then please oblige. If not then please do. If do it would make all of it worth it.
Flush.
2 of a kind.
Full House
Royal flush.
Fold.
It is midnight I should be off. Off I shall just strum and never bother. Never shall I bother and never shall I be bothered.
Again.
Aug 7, 2018
Aug 7, 2018 at 4:08 PM UTC
That's the funny thing about falling in love though.
It's like playing poker.
The lesser you show emotions,
the more effective your bluff will be.
And the bet?
YOUR HEART.
Aug 7, 2018
Aug 7, 2018 at 2:23 AM UTC
He put his heart on the poker table
‘he’s all in’ his face grim and unquavering, he thinks he’s able
but the cards are stacked against him
he plays all moves
but the joker beleaguers his fingers
they use his mind as a bullet practice board
wearing their bullet proof vest so they’re well protected
He’d been on a scorching quest for disaster
was given a tepid glass of love in return
They said his heart was a Rubik’s cube in a Swiss bank
so he pulled the funds out took the risk rather than being a *******
He spends his heart on love,
he realises its like a cigarette loaded with regret rather than nicotine
so he took a cue,
formed his heart back to a Rubik’s cube
and put in a Swiss bank in the maze house
Jun 29, 2018
Jun 29, 2018 at 6:21 AM UTC
We used to play cards on Tuesday nights
in the small office of a used car lot.
I would look at the old beaters as they came in.
Wonder what their stories were.
Who drove them.
Where they had travelled and what they had seen.
“All rust and dust” my friend used to say.
As they age their value goes down.
Which is what some folks think about people.
But really, the opposite is true.
My friend would ask
why I played cards
with those old geezers.
He didn’t get it.
Many people don’t.
I just told him I always win.
It was true.
Not in terms of money.
But in everything else I got from those guys.
Stories
Wisdom
Laughs.
One old guy used to cheat like a *******
I let him get away with it.
I hope when I get old
somebody cuts me some slack.
Jun 21, 2018
Jun 21, 2018 at 5:47 PM UTC
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
Mar 6, 2018
Mar 6, 2018 at 10:56 PM UTC
Feeling somber is a somber feeling
I've felt green felt when she was dealing
Betting is how I make a living
Since I started taking instead of giving
Stepping on a soap box
and telling how I feel (I've learned)
Is the smartest way to steal.
I'm feeling over fishes
So, I pop them in a barrel
I am not so barren
As much as I am sterile
Feb 20, 2018
Feb 20, 2018 at 4:23 AM UTC
i've been seeing ghosts for
as long as i can remember now.
they sit idly on my bed,
making small talk with
the skeletons who play poker
on my closet floor.
they call. flush, straight,
empty hands as the cards fall through
the gaps between their fingers.
together they brush worries
out of my hair, one by one.
they have nothing else to do,
and neither do i.
as strands of my hair are
placed gently behind my ear.
they speak to me,
but mostly among themselves.
"i can't tell you when it gets better, kid.
i can't tell you if it ever does."
Jan 24, 2018
Jan 24, 2018 at 9:53 AM UTC