The Gamble

Snake eyes, he said zeroing in for the shoot,
his gaze firmly fixed
on her black eyed peas,
pupils deep as a lake,
wide then soft,
a pocketful of tears.

She should shake herself sensible,
turn and walk away
ignoring herself
as a matter of course,
but she won’t.  She sighs,
he sighs, rolls the dice
one to one, good as his word. 

***

Barbra Nightingale’s poetry has appeared in The Georgetown Review, Barrow Street, and Kalliope. She is the author of six collections, including Singing in the Key of L, which won the 1999 NFSPS Stevens Poetry Prize, and The Geometry of Dreams (WorldTech Communications). She teaches Literature and Poetry at Broward Community College, South Florida.