We were playing 20 hands of 5-card draw
It was a 4-some, with my best friend, my wife and Jimmie Carter
The prize-2300 match-sticks and pennies by the dozens-
Was just 72 inches away, and tingling. We were in the 9s all the way,
me and Jimmie, cheating under the table and counting
Up our winnings 20 at a time, fingers and toes worth,
until the talk turned to how many lovers you had? and
lemee tell you me and Jimmie had some low numbers
being shy Southern Baptist boys with strong mothers
and growing up in pint-sized towns where every girl’s
daddy carried 3 0r 4 shotguns-meanwhile my wife is
vaulting past 30 while I’m trying to get beyond my ten
fingers and my “friend” is racing forward in his size 13s
enumerating all his 27 rejections and 45 almost-loves
when Jimmie smiles and says “Well, I have sinned in my
heart a time or 3,” and I get that, like a 100 on a math test
and I jump up and shout “All my loves, over 50, more than 200,
probably 1000!” And that was just high school, 1966-1972.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We welcome your respectful comments, but will not accept anonymous ones.