queen of hearts

sometimes forgotten why we play
the hands we're given every day
you came along to show the way
that power sorely missed

commit, retreat, discard, attack
embrace the heat or burn the deck
like time we're never given back
those moments filled with bliss

exquisitely when you might deign
but never asking why you reign
and still i drag on through the pain
not ready for this loss

for what if, say, i chose not wise
if this is how the vision dies
bleak options i feel on the rise
a bridge too hard to cross

on fertile ground for seeds of doubt
from joining up to checking out
mere number you can toss about
a fool that goes in blind

of feints i never should allow
and playing games so tired now
belay that thorny thought somehow
shunned to the egde of mind

for i'm not what you truly seek
can't be the one that makes you weak
the name you never dare to speak
no, i am but a toy

a stopgap chance, a little bite
just holding out for lightning strike
so tell me what your end game's like
what's my part in this ploy

(2023)

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