Robert Pesich The 2River View, 9.2 (Winter 2005)
Ante Up!

Everyone seems to be clutching something
in this blue casino.
Even me, my chewed up pen
lost in the mine shaft
within my fist

I might last a few more rounds at this table.
The old-timer next to us has been losing all night,
says it takes time for the stars to travel
to the other side of the heart.

The great blizzard of ash is forecast to continue
for years. People have been travelling with chains
for generations.

Are you following me? Know that all the scenic roads are closed.
But this is not a good reason for going deaf.

Let’s stop at The Great Divide for beer and boiled eggs,
share our dirty jokes until we’re empty and wet from weeping.
This is when silence plows it open.

Can you hear the horizon in your breath?
We still have a chance to see
the Sasquatch, retreating ever deeper into the shadows,
illuminating the way with her winter coat
of moonlight and diamonds.

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