Coyote Poker
The hand well-played is not always obvious
from the hand dealt.
It’s a constant troubleshoot
not a constant win.
The stakes are everything—
laid out, played out, piercing.
The deal is random
the cards are often marked
invisibly
making some hands brutal
in subtle hidden ways
even to, or especially to, those
who see and know everything.
Omniscient ones.
Reincarnate only within
the limits of face and suit.
Even then it’s luck or fate
or the turn of the trickster.