Texas Poker by Robin Cate
I haven’t posted one from the Texas Poetry Calendar 2008 in a while. The author was third-place winner in the 2006 calendar for a different poem.
Texas Poker
By Robin Cate
All the visiting cousins
settle on Grandma’s quilt.
Legs are crossed Indian style.
Grandpa has loaned us his cards,
cards smooth as marble
faint images worn from fun.
Cousin Pam shuffles;
the cards scatter like dry leaves.
Giggling, we settle into our dealt hands,
put on the serious face of poker players
we’ve seen in cowboy movies.
It’s 101 degrees
with matching humidity.
Sweat plasters our shirts
to our thin frames.
Texas Summer.
But we’re in the shade of
a big pecan tree
and have ice cubes to suck.
We’ve all been dealt winning hands.
