Shuffle Off

all children
make mistakes
life is hard
place your bets

try to understand
play the game
no end in sight
no matter
how well you
play your hand

no son
or daughter
no sun or moon
laughing inside
the clamber just fading
seagulls and gannets
shoot from awkward
malarkey to dream skies
why can't you leave it all
I don't know.

what sun is unmade
unreal
dreams are
a dime a dozen
and a real steal
how can you win
in this?
I don't know

a game built for losers
dancing with scissors
like this one
Cut it short
or keep singing
is that the danger
bell and an orange glow
wringing its hands
in time slowed
I don't know

Love is like a gate
slammed with force
with both of us
on one side
full of arrogance
the thought of leaving
too strange for words
even an empty evening
imperceptibly concealed
is not wrongly articulated
behind some ancient force field
we all eat with spoons
come clean in
the fabric and an elan
dreamed about with
sympathy
shuffle off to some hidden
corridor
see you in
some other place...