SOLITARE
I play the three I know: Free Cell, Spider,
and plain old Klondike to kill time,
to clear my mind between re-writes,
escape life.
On the carpet, as close
as he can get, lies my dog.
When a deuce tops the trey,
followed by the ace,
a little ping from the computer
rewards my success.
Bull’s tail thumps on the floor.
Ping, thump, ping, thump,
he applauds the card played.
When I tell him that he’ll wear his tail out,
the thumps come faster and faster.
ping&thump&ping&thump&ping
I play one more game of each.
Avalon Literary Review
2013
