Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Poem: All My 1000 Loves (A numbers poem)

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.


                                                            by Gary Phillips

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