Five Poems by Sharon Waller Knutson

 

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.