Silently surveys her hand.
She lays three cards down
And thinks, but doesn't understand
Two cards she finds to pair
One red and one of opposite black
Face cards she lays with care
Queen in front, king in back
With stiff limbs and a poker face
She plays according to rules
Set down in another time and place
By sympathetic fools
Darkly through the glass
She greets another day
She comes to an impasse
It cannot go her way.
Spreading cards across the floor
She quits the fatal game there
And gets up, heading toward the door
Thinking it's just solitaire
