It's Still Life

The Old Woman Teaches Poker
(A Lesson in Literal Interpretations)

The Old Woman lays the tools on the table:

• one metal rod,
• a sack of kindling,
• and a single, determined match.

“Right,” she says,
“The book said ‘Poker’
is a game of fire and nerve.”

The cat stares.
Its expression suggests
this may be
the stupidest moment
in human history.

“You poke the fire,” she explains,
“and then I will poke it.
We see who flinches first.”

The cat does not flinch.

It yawns,
a deliberate, pink-curved insult.
“I already win,” it declares.
“I have nerves of feathers
and a heart of absolute zero.

Also, you’re holding the poker wrong.”

Just then, the crow flies in
with a stolen playing card,
the Ace of Spades
clutched in its beak.
It drops it neatly
into the unlit fire.

A moment of silence.

“See?” says the cat,
*“Even the bird gets it.
Now about those sardines
I was promised
for participating
in this travesty…”