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Wednesday, April 13, 2022

National Poetry Month 2022- Poem #13- "Solitaire"

I'm feeling like most of the stuff I am posting is not quite done and not very good, but sometimes you just have to do the best you can do. So here it is.   



"Solitaire"


She loved solitaire.

Black on red on black

on red on black on red

day after day after day.


Even belonged

to a daily solitaire challenge. 

"Do you usually do them?" I ask.

"Oh yes," she says.

"I always beat them. 

I just play until I win."


"I can’t beat that one,"

she says to me one Sunday.

"I’ve played it 65 times

And I can’t beat it."

I watched that day as she did it

four or five more times.

She finally won.


And now that she is gone

I play solitaire,

pretty much every day.

No idea about strategies 

or how you can actually 

play to win. To me,

solitaire feels like

pure dumb luck. 


But I keep playing, hoping

that if I play enough times

maybe I will win

a few memories

or perhaps

at least a little

of her tenacity.


© Carol Wilcox, 2022


2 comments:

  1. It's really wonderful to write about this memory, Carol, & then playing yourself. I love that ending: "if I play enough timesmaybe I will win a few memories or perhaps at least a little of her tenacity"

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  2. What a tribute to your mom and the love you shared. Love that you're playing solitaire, it brings you closer to her, and something tells me that you already have her tenacity.

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