A Gamble, Love
A Gamble, Love
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,
my lips two blushing pilgrims ready stand
to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss–
————–William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.
“The cards–they turned against me, baby–
though every single one I played for you–
‘cause you deserve the best–you, my best lady–
the best a man could have, and that’s for true.”
He bends to kiss my belly with near beard,
shuffling belly, beard and smooth and rough so well,
a warmth is dealt that pays no mind to word,
a heat of coupled past, skin-wanded spell–
and the heap of ash–my heart an hour before,
waiting, stirs as with sharp sticks or flinted stones
as stubble apes a spark—”Not like that whore,
damned queen. I would have had a flush–” he groans–
“You lost it all?” My whisper asks his hair.
Lips to nipple, his reply. ”All?” I ask
again, voice lower. His fingers mouth despair
and slow. And, as head lifts, cold finds a path,
a gap between the rise of his chest, chin,
a gulf between my breasts, and seeps to where
hips join, a lunar plexus of thin
chill–“I had great hands,” he says; I stare.
*************************************
This is both a kind of draft poem and completely fictional! Ha! But I was thinking of Kerry O’ Connor’s wonderful prompt on With Real Toads that quoted Shakespeare –”love is a tender thing”–from Romeo and Juliet- and asked for poems on a varied theme of love and enmity. I thought of these other lines from Romeo and Juliet, which led to a different idea of a hand. The poem has so many odd breaks, I feel like I should do a reading to make the sound clearer, but life will not make that possible today. One thing, in my poetry, breaks are only intended to be taken where punctuated–i.e. by a comma or period–and not at the end of a line– Thanks! Have a great weekend and Valentine’s Day–
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Tags: a gamble love, losing game love, love after the chips have fallen, manicddaily, Romeo and Juliet goes to Foxwoods, talking to hair love
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ManicDDaily 
February 13, 2015 at 12:06 pm
This is so good! Marvelous writing, K.
February 13, 2015 at 1:22 pm
This reads as smooth as silk, Karin… wickedly deceptive and a very passionate hand indeed.
February 13, 2015 at 1:23 pm
This is just wonderful to read……..love the meter and the tale told. Just so good.
February 13, 2015 at 2:07 pm
love is always a gamble
this guy’s a wild card
probably a joker
cheers
jzb
February 13, 2015 at 2:24 pm
It read well to me, K!! Loved it!
February 13, 2015 at 2:26 pm
Thanks, Hannah
February 13, 2015 at 3:53 pm
Love is always a gamble I suppose, and makes gamblers of all lovers–at least that sounds Shakespearean–here I get the cold chill that comes when you discover the lover is truly other–and you will never ever understand them–or so I read–agree with everyone else who says this reads smoothly, almost sonnet-like with the abab rhyme very unforced. Love your tags.
February 13, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Loved, loved this k–we play the hands we have and hope sometimes–sometimes not–
February 13, 2015 at 9:33 pm
The double play on those “great hands” is the neat trick of this poem–and then that lover’s stare: Love as a poker game.
February 13, 2015 at 9:50 pm
O! and if he lost his hands how fulfill he his promise of breath and proximity? It may be that the cold chill is there to stay, though I hope it was just his money and not his extremities. Great hands, indeed! I love reading this! Read it twice and may again simply for the fun of it.
February 13, 2015 at 11:44 pm
Love is definitely a gamble. Fantastic piece!
February 14, 2015 at 1:52 am
I love that roghness of the cardplayer’s hand and beard and the tender nakedness. To view love as gambling works so well, and alas is often very close to truth.
February 14, 2015 at 3:49 pm
Great verse tale! Shakespeare’s sonnets are such wonderful glosses on love’s torment, and you weave it here as tactile as the opening quote — rough beard, smooth belly — as the greater abrasion of gambler and lover (and leaving us to wonder which is which).
February 15, 2015 at 1:28 pm
…sounds like she might have to discard a joker or two and try her hand at another love?
February 15, 2015 at 1:30 pm
Good advice! k.
On Sun, Feb 15, 2015 at 1:28 PM, ManicDDaily wrote:
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