Ante Up

Unwise

At sunrise

I weep and weigh

My bootless soul against a grim toll

*

The dealer smiles wide

Pale hands rise from his sides

Shuffles cards with a knife

Will I gamble my life?

*

Every dollar earned costs time

Bringing me closer to graveyard vines

I’ll leave behind some sons and daughters

Legacies swallowed by rising waters

*

Taste the apple and beg a pardon

God will snatch me from the garden

Ease the pain with sweet red wine

Slowly drown my gasping mind

*

Sunsets bring such earnest light

Each one signals hungry night

Moonlight sparks a carnal flame

Dawn reminds me of the shame

*

The music of a songbird’s worthy

It wakes me from my dreaming early

Whirlpool dreams transcend reality

Their memory defects and leave me banality

*

Masquerade beauty romances my soul

Beneath the porcelain waits patient bone

Every kiss might be goodbye

All loving truths become a lie

*

Rhythm inspires my heartbeat to quicken

The end of this song is already written

Wise words seem so eternal in ink

They’ll burn in starfire that won’t feel or think

*

And yet

At sunset

I will smile and pay

One boundless soul that was worth the grim toll

*

For the dealer will drag back my tokens

With his scythe when the gamble is done

And though I will lose every coin

The game was worth each one