Kenny Rogers Sings The
Gambler
I sit on a swivel
chair
in front of the
computer
playing Texas Hold Em
with a pair of twos
trying to decide
whether
to check, call, raise
or fold
when I see the
stranger
in my house muscling
his way down the
hallway
in diamonds and
tattoos
Kenny sings, Know
when
to hold and when to fold
but he doesn’t say
when
to scream. I freeze
and the game sits me
out
and the rattlesnake
turns the corner,
slithers
past me and heads
for the bathroom
and the toilet bowl.
The Eagles Soar
Inside and Out
Two Bald Eagles land
on the waterfalls
and dip their toes
in the cool water
as four hairy Eagles
with guitars rock
out,
Peaceful Easy Feeling
from the TV set,
in a documentary
aired after two die
and the others
turn seventy-eight.
As the Bald Eagles
hop
down, the hairy
Eagles
belt out, I’m
already
standing on the ground.
By the time the Bald
Eagles flap and fly
away,
the hairy Eagles
sing,
I’m already gone.
I Am Waiting For My
Sweet and Sour Shrimp
at the Chinese Dragon
Café when I study
The Chinese Zodiac
on the placemat.
And discover I am
a water horse
with the spirit
of self sacrifice.
Married to a bold
courageous
and faithful fire dog
and we are parents
of an earth rooster
with a pragmatic
personality, a wood
tiger who plays
pranks.
A charming
charismatic
fire dragon and
giving
but too trusting
earth horse.
I find it as reliable
as the fortune cookie
which reads; You
have
a secret admirer.
Still, I secretly
stash
the sauce stained
paper mat and fortune
in my purse for safe
keeping.
His Chips Come with
Cod
delicious
deep fried
wrapped
in newspapers
and sold in shops
in the sixties
throughout Scotland
summer and winter.
He is nineteen
when he travels
by bus, train
and bicycle
from the beaches
where the breeze
from the bay
caresses his skin
like a Scottish lass
to the mountains
where his face
is slapped
by the wind
from the Artic
Circle
like a jealous
rival.
Renting a room
from families
who teach
him the Scottish
brogue,
feed him
boiled brussels
sprouts and mince
and introduce
him to James Bond
on television
At the Highland
Games
he watches
men in kilts
marching
and playing
bag pipes
and drums
and wrestling
with members
of other clans
figuring
some
are relatives
since his ancestors
came from
Norway.
.
Sights You’ll Never
See Again
He awakens in his
Challis motel
room at midnight as
the sky
turns green, pink and
purple
and when he can’t get
back
to sleep he drives
back
to Rigby since the
highway
is lighted by the
Northern Lights.
Just before he
reaches Mackey,
he slams on his
brakes
as a hundred head of
deer
cross the road,
blinking
in the bright lights,
like
a herd of cattle
without
cowboys on horses.
When he passes the
Hailey
airport, jets are
roaring
on the runway and
lights
blinking as they
takeoff.
He imagines Willis
is onboard one
and Schwarzenegger
on another heading
for Hollywood to film
action movies
he will watch on
the screen as bright
as this memorable
night in the
eighties.
Sharon Waller Knutson - Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net Nominated Poet Sharon Waller Knutson is a retired journalist who lives in Arizona. She has published twelve poetry books including My Grandfather is a Cowboy (Cyberwit 2024, )My Grandmother Smokes Chesterfields (Flutter Press 2014,) What the Clairvoyant Doesn’t Say and Trials & Tribulations of Sports Bob (Kelsay Books 2021) and Survivors, Saints and Sinners (Cyberwit 2022,) Kiddos & Mamas Do the Darndest Things (Cyberwit 2022,) The Vultures are Circling (Cyberwit 2023) and The Leading Ladies in My Life (Cyberwit June 2023).
Her work has also
appeared in Poetry Breakfast, Autumn Sky Poetry Review, Poetry Hunger
X, Lothlorien, GAS Poetry, Art and Music, The Rye
Whiskey Review, Black Coffee Review, ONE ART,
Mad Swirl, The Drabble, Gleam, Muddy River Review, Verse-Virtual,
Your Daily Poem, Red Eft Review, Beatnik Cowboy, The Five-Two, Impspired and
others.
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