House of Cards

Here's a poem from a great poet, Anthony Abbott! I saw him read this poem and it was amazing!

HOUSE OF CARDS

Then the master in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets

and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel the people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ Luke 14: 21-24

Once there was a man who gave

a party. He invited the top of the deck.

The Kings and Queens,

Jacks and Tens, and, of course,

the Aces, those powers behind

even the Kings themselves, though

we all know it’s the Queens who run

the show. The point is none of them

came. That’s right, none of them

The Kings were busy in the walled

city, in the compound, deconstructing

their missiles, and the Queens,

the Queens were always moaning

about how overcommitted they were.

The Queens were sad, but busy or sad, it was

still a no, and the Jacks, the Jacks were cooking

up stuff, making plans, hatching the eggs

of desire and circumlocution. They were,

you might say, moving.

And the tens were so insecure, they just

sat there polishing their little hearts or

spades. They wanted to look good for

the Queens. They wanted to move up,

get a face, one of those cool one-eyed

Jack poses. So who was this guy anyway?

A nine at best.

But the guy, as I understand the story, was—

well, I know this comes as some surprise—

God. He just looked like a nine. And he was

really mad, and he told his servants, the eights,

to go out in the town, where all the new

subdivisions were, and find some sevens

and sixes, and then go down to Affordable Housing

and the bus station and the Wal-Mart

for some threes and fours, and most of all,

God said, invite the twos. By God, God laughed,

those twos are the best. And don’t forget the fives.

The fives might need a little extra persuading,

those skeptical fives.

And there it was, all those

beautiful low numbers crowding around the pool out back

drinking beer and eating chips and salsa, some of the threes

and sixes mixing it up, the sevens and fours

playing drums and guitars, the fives singing chorus.

And the twos, God bless the twos, they were

if you haven’t guessed it, the lovers. The twos

always came in sets. God liked the hearts

and diamonds best, but he loved them all.

And then, at the witching hour, or whatever

hour you like, God told some stories, and started

crying and wiping his eyes because he was so

happy to have them all there,

and as for the royalty, and as for the royalty,

and those slick behind the scenes Aces, well

there would be some wailing and gnashing

of teeth, just like the good book says. That’s

what I heard from those who were there..

Two two’s told me so.