grand old deceiver

something felt 
broken
flattened 
maybe 
the goddam earth
had been 
folded
by the
grand old deceiver 

had it been 
shelved
filed
categorised 
into 
different boxes
decks
to be 
reshuffled later 
by the 
grand old deceiver 

will hearts 
beat 
clubs 
will diamonds 
wear out
spades 
who nominates 
who shuffles... 
what happened 
to the fifth
to the 
permanent...  
was it
slipped 
up the 
robed sleeve 
of the 
grand old deceiver

spite and malice 
disguised
as 
love thy neighbor  
it's just a game 
of
cat and mouse 
that ends
in
misery 
playing solitaire 
in rwanda
drunk on ubuki
with
discarded cards 
germany 
once bent
then was
scratched and marked
by other 
cheating
tribes/nations
before and after 
germany's
wrangling hands 
or 
simply 
sleight of hand 
by the
grand old deceiver

© by bg 2021