To play the game isn't always sweet
Sometimes you have to roll the dice
To get to the top you'll always have to climb mountains
Take each day with a spoonful of sugar
Move on the board and have some fun
Win and you will be king
Kneel before the king
He is bitter but he is sweet
He needs to have a little fun
So he gambles with a pair of dice
He's too afraid to get some sugar
From the girl up in the mountains
Snow piles as high as mountains
Even away, he is still king
The purest powder white like sugar
The taste on the tongue numb yet sweet
The feeling of hitting snake eyes in a game of dice
But when its gone it wont be fun
But who's to say what can be fun
Surely we can all climb mountains
And games don't always require dice
A queen doesn't always need a king
Some like sour, some like sweet
The world can't always be sugar
So the king leaves his sugar
Leaves behind all the fun
Bitterness can be so sweet
There he travels over the mountains
To go back to his throne as king
No gambling this way, no dice
They were loaded anyway, those dice
And there turned out to be no sugar
He remained a lonely king
There was no more fun
He'd never even seen the mountains
To play the game isn't always sweet
I so do love a game of craps (bones), whatever you like to call it, us natives have a version of it too called "stick games", when people like to get together after a powwow and gamble. Very nice work i really liked it.
ReplyDeleteI love this. Even if you take away the references to game (king dice, gambling), this poems reads well as the evolution (or perhaps devolution or downfall of a king). I like how playful and serious it is at the same time. It reminds me a bit of Wallace Stevens. And in thinking about what sort of "king" this might represent, I think some might look at it as political commentary....this could be the story of any leader. Good one!
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