jupitersterrain four

a chivalrous hand

so bet my last dime on a bag of chips
laid down my heart for the draw of it
but the hands held hard cards flashed 
bad beats jumped out in layered bluffs
bailing out a raise on the scooped nuts
my cards were dominated dead of outs
rivercards beat the sound of my shouts
but Mars was there pushing some bets
he re-raises the limits on the street set
try to get me prised off a sinking deck 
he's hooking toys on a fairground stall
shows me a stub to prove there's more
but I told him of the blinds made before
I was check-raised on a free roll lowball
then a centripetal cutting of the chords
raising the mexican's metaphoric horse  
and smudging off residues of a gorge
he lifted me from a Titanic of icebergs
left me fending for myself on a verge
and I'd draw health from his foul call
safe not always the safest word of all 
might do well on a bad hand highball
taking a leg up on the middle position
why were five carmine threes in a pack 
a wild card or a hard nut out the back ?
and then heard an eerie dusk nocturn
it's soars inflaming the brink of my pain 
bestrode the string raises , split the pot
called me tight but he was tapped out
those glaciers had left me some clout 
so I held my hands close to my hearts
sometimes beating him bluffing at cards

8.01.06.