5-Card Destiny
by Odin Roark


Worn card handling
Delivers solace
Knowing snapped dealing
With its own sound
Renders some voices honest
Others but an outcry of defiance
Longed for comfort
Courtly faces
Or
Numbered challenges
All the same
In the game of remembering

Beginners playing chance
Obliging destiny
An often painful revealing
Even as
Everyone takes a peek
Asks for more
Or
Stays pat

Destiny laughs

In the game of remembering
So often played with chance
Begetting more losers
Than winners
All rising from the table
Some call the life game
Dress their wounds
Walk out the door

While winners
Gush with this moment’s victory
Delude themselves as immortal
Strut out the door

Away from the dealings
On the cold nights
With the winds at 5 knots
Life’s inclement weather raging

Winners and losers
Drink the same bourbon
Long for the same elusive love
Game play can’t deliver

Ever notice

Some never walk away from the table