Playing with half a deck

Playing with half a deck

A Poem by jacob erin-cilberto

Playing with half a deck

 

 

whose fault is it---really?

we are what we eat,

and sit many adolescent years

at the family table,

the conversation passed along

like the salt

and the last lamb chop

 

we savor the flavor of what we hear---

digest it,

gain the weight of the words

 

and then grow into the body of prejudiced leaning

the old chair is still in the dining room

 

we never discerned how broken the leg was--

never noticed the unused jokers placed

under to balance life---

 

and become a tilted journey of dark spirit

imagining a purge of dessert

to clarify what we don't even realize

we've become.

 

 

erin-cilberto

8/13/17

© 2017 jacob erin-cilberto


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when I was little my sister and I loved the joker, and made our own rule that Joker trumps everything, even the ace, it was a wild card to be used as any card when it turned up, the most valuable of all.

Posted 6 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

6 Years Ago

and now the joke seems to be on us.
thank you, Corset.
j.
Corset

6 Years Ago

Bah, only if you forget how to laugh at yourself...
Sitting on grandfather's knee being told tales of how 'they' (the other side) are subhuman is the way it has been here for 300 years now J.
I totally can relate to this.

Posted 6 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

6 Years Ago

thank you for your words, Tony.

j.
such a clever piece here Jacob. The references to family life around the dining table, mixed with the lessons of life and the pack of cards we are dealt.

Posted 6 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

6 Years Ago

thank you, John...
j.

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Added on August 13, 2017
Last Updated on August 13, 2017

Author

jacob erin-cilberto
jacob erin-cilberto

Carbondale, IL



About
Originally from Bronx, NY, I live in Carbondale, Illinois...teach English at a community college and have been writing and publishing poetry since 1970. I am here to read for inspiration from other po.. more..

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