One Way to Use a Deck of Cards
        for Jon

How you were no good at poker.
How you lost each sock, then your
shirt, in our red room at the bed
and breakfast. How the world
was expanding. How we looked
at photos of Prague with our host
over pancakes the next morning.
How we took turns trying on
the words, We're married.
How we puffed up hills, caught
trolleys, ate sushi almost daily
for a week. How we stood between
a protest and free art. How a ticket
for the movie we didn't like is still
your bookmark after fifteen years.
How I look at you now over piles
of clean laundry on our bed
after our sons go to sleep.
How I wish I could replace
the laundry with a deck of cards
and a smaller stack of clothes—
the ones you're wearing now.

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Copyright © 2022 Katie Manning All rights reserved
from How To Play: Poems Inspired by Games
Louisiana Literature
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission