NaPM 26 April 2022

[RiverNotch]

Rules: Write a poem for national poetry month on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month, have written 30 poems for National Poetry Month.

Topic: Describe a card game.

Form: Any

Line Requirement: At least 4

[Semicircle]

Gotta catch them all

He wanted to snort some crack
but didn't have any money

I said I'd trade him a Mewtwo
for a pretty penny

[Mark A Becker]

Strip Poker

Don’t play it with Betty
‘cause she’s always ready:
hat, scarf, and sweater,
shirt, tee, and tank top,
loose slacks, yoga pants;
she’ll lose several hands,
but she doesn’t care-
by the time it's all done,
she’s laid ‘em all bare.

[CRNDLSM]

Usually small pieces
of papers with images
or numbers distinguishing
roles, points, or turns exchanging
hands or stacks sums up most card
games.  Some are easy, some hard,
Some can be addictive, and
others you may never play again.

[RiverNotch]

With nearly every trump in hand,
every trick was in his grasp:
fate had granted him a slam.
But side-by-side were the Nameless One,
the Lovers, and the House of God,
while Temperance took a conspicuous spot
in the kitty. "I told you",
went the girl he liked that knew she was liked
when, folding, he showed everyone
his hand, "you bid too much."
"We should have used a more modern deck,
maybe played some Whist instead."

[dukealien]

Metagame


The game of cards transcends
any specific rules
of tricks, of bidding, bluffing
or configurations - no,
the inner game of cards
played out over centuries
is evolution of the pack
from dreamy mysticism–  Tarot
with its four-card court
of King, Queen, Knight and Page
and fifth Major Arcana suit–
to the common mid-Atlantic
bridge or poker deck in which
knight and page amalgamate
into a rascal Jack.
Further north the four
suit names and symbols change
and rationalize Germanically
by losing Ace and all below
six or seven except the Deuce;
Queen becomes Over (male)
and Jack dutiful Under (male)
leaving newly-promoted Deuce
not only higher than the King
but also only possible female
(nicknamed the Sow)...
All that, recall, before
the pack is ever opened or
a game is named.

[TranquillityBase]

The dead man’s hand held by Hickok:
two black eights
two black aces
and a Queen of Hearts in the hole 
stained by a drop of blood.
So says a fabulist
of the Nineteen Twenties.
Only Jack McCall knew for sure;
he saw Bill’s cards as he stood behind him,
gun in hand,
but they hung him,
age 24, in Yankton, the next year.