Poker and Life

Hi Gene:

Thanks for the comment and kind thoughts.

I honestly don't think my words offered any "wisdom". I enjoy expressing myself in writing, sometimes in verse. And the words arrived somewhere from the subconscious. They came into being because of what happened to me and who I was. I wrote for peace/catharsis and enjoyment. 

I agreed that poker, as a game, resembles life the most, in comparison with other games. In fact, as I often tell my son, life is a game with rules. We may not like the rules but to be "successful" in life, we must follow the rules, one of which is the cardinal one:

"      O, never Shall sun that morrow see! Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters. To beguile the time, Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under ’t. He that’s coming Must be provided for; and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch, Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom." Once we recognize life is nothing but a game, we don't have to take it too seriously. We can laugh at the absurdity of the rules and we can quit the game anytime we wish. We can move through life with ease, feeling light and unencumbered. We can laugh at fools and ignorant pontificators who hanker after power and fame.

I also agreed with your point about "embracing/surrending to" the moment instead of "seizing it". The notion sounded more romantic. Thus, I have revised that line. I also included the first part of the duet so the selected readers would follow the train of thoughts. A reader kindly suggested that I continue the poem after "One, two, three, I think I love thee."

Yes, moments are important and beautiful to me. I live mainly for the moments, for the exquisite sensations they bring. 

A. One, two, three, I think I love thee

I don't know what's coming over me

I was drinking my usual evening cup of tea

In the balcony overlooking the rolling sea

Waves were pounding the beach

Palm trees were swaying with the breeze

Then all of a sudden twilight's dying lights

 Made me realize thou art out of reach

But still, my thoughts march in lock step like enlistees

One, two, three, I think I love thee

Where art thou  now? What thou  art  doing?

Dost thou ever think of me?

Dost thou hear the march of my soul? 

The whispering whimpers of my heart's beatings

Wissai

July 12, 2013 

B. YES, I do think of thee

YES, I do think of thee

Although I hardly know who thou art.

All we have are our hearts' occasional chimes

And long stretches of intervening time.

Yes, I sensed that thy warm smiles and sparkling eyes

Were trying to tell me something thou felt inside.

Yes, I do know time is running out on us.

Should we embrace our mutual feelings and make a fuss?

Should we answer to the call of our hearts

And make a brand-new start? 

Honey, prithee, do tell me!

Wissai

July 13, 2013