and every person becomes a game of poker
you take your chances with each hand
just before it touches your own,
weighing the possibilities of each face
card before you and how much you can invest.
you wait for the flop, always wondering
what the burn cards you’ve never seen were
and who was lost there. just as the cards hit the felt
comes another round of betting and upping the stakes,
you take your chances with each breath
that your hand is good, it will bring no harm
to you. then comes the turn, it either strengthens
or weakens you, a matter of positioning, who’s on top
of whom, who suddenly has the edge. and the river
then floods in, where boats sink and pocket rockets
crash miserably, where a set of eyes meet your own
and you stare facing the enormity of everything
in the pot and the plays everyone else has made.
you take your chances and go all in.