Do you want to shuffle?

Sure

Are you gonna cut?

Ok

Deal out the cards

Let’s see what we get

What’s your melt?

Wow, really? You must have a run

What’s your trump?

Spades

Marriage with a Jack of diamonds

and a Queen of spades

I’ll take that

You don’t have any more hearts?

Nope

I topped it

It’s the highest trump I had

I know

Of course you did

And I take the rest

What’d you get?

Did you write th...

War

A game

Of whos number

Is higher

Solitare

A game

You do alone

With no winner

Slap Jack

A game

Where the first to

Slap Jack wins

Poker

A game

To gamble

And to have a good ‘Poker face’

They bring us togther

Or entertain

Or cover time

Or help us have fun...

Is it all a game of cards,

Or just this moment in time?

It’s so hard to move forward

Without crossing some thin line.

Everything must fall in order,

Slotted into just one place—

Matching one after the other,

A quiet game of grace.

At times the board lies frozen still,

No moves to make, no signs to trust.

But one small shift, one quiet will,

Can stir the cards from dust.

No longer solitary, no l...

I’m tired of playing these games

Right when I am done

Cleaning up your messes

You insist on playing again

Right when I am settled and clean

You throw around my cards

Onto the grass

They blow in the wind

Fly away

They will never be the same

Some cards have grass stains

Others covered in mud

I will never find them all

Each time, the deck fades

And warps

But,

Right when I give you the cards

Out of ...

poppin’ and blowin’ hearts out

my gingham lips kiss you miss your drama

I’ll be hacking up clotted spoons

licking off the clumps while my mouth

tastes like Sunshine Yellow

Dad’s grave still smells like vodka

I checked last night and vomited on his bones

the cuckoo saw me and started laughing

so I flipped the bird and waited for him to choke on my pill prescription

that I hid in the birdfeeder

I r...

After that conversation

My heart hides in the corner

While locking itself in my dark room

And opens the window

To hears such heavy rain

Then rain starts to come from my eyes

Almost as heavy

Screaming in pain

Your heart shattered

You try to put it back together like a puzzle

But you seem to be missing many pieces

Pieces you carefully gave to other people

Who will never give them back

N...

The game of fate.

A real debate.

One round you’re dominating.

Then the next, devastating.

You might have all the trick cards.

Then next round you’re in shards.

The adrenaline builds with each and every round.

Until the last card is put down and you hear that sound....

Play your cards right,

Win the game,

Go all night,

Just keep in mind,

Play your cards wrong,

And you lose it all.

Keep playing,

Come on!

I swear you’ll be all right,

Just keep going

From morning to

Night.

Risk it all,

Take a chance,

Is it worth it?

Well, I’m glad that

You asked!

Of course it’s worth it

To take the risk!

You may win with a

Full house

Or you may lose it all!

But you’ll never ...

♣︎♣︎♣︎

“Fear, truly, is not something to be frightened of. Fear warns you if something is not safe; Fear feeds your adrenaline when you must run.”

♣︎♣︎♣︎

YANT

I did not go down to dinner.

After what that servant told me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of bed any time soon. Levan left me as well, following the same servant as they led him to the guard’s quarters. So it’s dark in my...

♦︎♦︎♦︎

“A parent’s respect is like having all the riches in the world. Without it, you feel as poor as dirt.”

♦︎♦︎♦︎

Three Months Earlier…

RUMANDAD

Today is my Rising Ceremony. The day where I rise from a dainty damsel into a warrior woman to stand beside my eldest sister during her new rule in the coming years. With my practice sword in hand and my long hair tied at the back of my ne...