September 2020
Sharon Waller Knutson
fitmama@hughes.net
fitmama@hughes.net
Bio Note: I am a retired journalist who lives in the middle of a wildlife habitat in
the Arizona desert where I photograph wildlife, hike and write narrative poetry. My work has recently
appeared in Your Daily Poem, Red Eft Review and Wild Goose Poetry Review.
The Bookie
In her red hair,
orange lipstick
and green Mumu,
my 87-year-old
mother wins $100
in a Super Bowl contest
in the local newspaper
from her rocking chair
in her apartment
for scribbling
Packers-Patriots,
14-point spread.
Football fans climb
steep stairs for her tips
and she collects $200
from bar room bets
when the Broncos beat
the Packers 31-24.
Even as she lies dying
in a hospital gown,
a neighbor slips her $20
and whispers in her ear:
Will the Broncos win
next year? She nods
and he asks the score,
but that secret
is sealed on her lips.
Games
Hubby is at war
on the roof
with wasps
as I play poker
online with Barry
from Baltimore.
I bet 100 chips, he raises
me 200 and his four kings
beat my three queens.
Although strangers,
we chat casually
across the table.
He’s vacationing
in his villa in Venice.
Beautiful View?
He folds a royal flush
and I win with a pair
of twos. See for yourself.
I tell him I’m all in,
he goes all in too
and I steal his pot.
Message me and
I’ll book you a flight.
I cash in my chips,
leaving him bankrupt
as hubby hobbles in
reeking of Raid.
©2020 Sharon Waller Knutson
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