They say in Deadwood
Hickok’s final hand included the aces &
eights of both black suits,
A Deadman’s Hand, a 5 card draw
And that death came with it,
But in life it all depends
Upon the cards
That you are dealt.
For I’ve seen the world thru
A narrow glass,
An empty glass
And a terrible glance
That revealed all the best &
The worst…
The worst oh love
The worst kind of chance
In life.
For you can dance with the devil
In the pale moonlight,
You can save & save and work
all your life. And hope… And pray or
Spend. But either way the man
Will come a knocking soon
No matter what… in the end.
For your life can be a million things but
It all depends on you.
For luck is only half the game,
And the rest is up to you.
Because the truth?
Is that you are not
Completely, supremely, or eternally fucked or
Somehow destined to self destruct
But everyone you love will fall in the end
No matter what you do.
So the best kind of dance?
Your best card to chance?
Is always the ace of hearts.
For this, these words are both
A warning and a blessing,
A little bit of wisdom from a man
Whose words will stay true.
That your mind & heart
Must find a chart to
Plot your course upon.
So
Find a love thats
True, find a soul thats real
And that will never let you down.
And that heart my friend
Is your ace.
So no matter what?
Treat her right.
Rich or poor
Old or young
Thru good times or bad.
Because all life really
Is based upon on how you play the cards
And the winner always
Takes all…
___________
R.M. Engelhardt 2011
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Published by R.M. ENGELHARDT POET AUTHOR WRITER
R.M. Engelhardt is a poet, writer and author who over the last two decades has published over 16 books of poetry including "Nod" "Logos" "Alchemy" & "The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems of R.M. Engelhardt. The founder of the Upstate NY organization Albany Poets & the Annual Poetry Celebration The Albany Word Fest he has through his ideas & visions helped to contribute a large amount of advocacy and creativity to the Spoken Word~Poetry Capital District scene and is the former host of the long running readings Vox, Propaganda, Listen & currently is creating a new resurrection of one of the area's most well known open mics for poetry and spoken word THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT in Troy, NY held on the last Wednesday evening of each month at the incredible nightclub/speak easy bar THE BERLIN IN TROY NY. His writing has also been published by many journals such as The Rye Whiskey Review, Red Fez, Rusty Truck, Sure! The Charles Bukowski Newsletter, Thunder Sandwich, The Hobo Camp Review, Full of Crow, on the Outlaw Poetry Network & in many many others.
Look for his books "WHERE THE PEOPLE'S VISION PERISHES 2020" "DARK LANDS (2019 on LuLu, Amazon & At Barnes and Noble) The Resurrection Waltz, 2012 ( Infinity Press) & "COFFEE ASS BLUES & OTHER POEMS" ( 2018 Alien Buddha Press 2018) " DarkLands" 2019 & "Where There Is No Vision" 2020 and his new books, "WE RISE LIKE SMOKE" (2021) & Of Spirit, Ash & Bone (2022) all available on Amazon.com
He is also the Editor of the small independent poetry press DeadMansPressInk.
www.gentlemanoutsider.com
*All Poems, Writings & Information Contained On This Blog Are The Property & Owned By The Author R.M. Engelhardt. © 2021
www.rmengelhardt.com
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R.M. ENGELHARDT 