The Hearts

By Thorin N. Tatge

(To “The Rose”, by Amanda McBroom.)

Some say hearts, they are the chambers

Where tenderness is kept.

Some say hearts, they are the vessels

Through which sanguine streams are swept.

Some say hearts are locked forever

In emotional embrace.

I say hearts, they are as poison

And especially the ace.

It's the hearts that won't be broken

That the players learn to dread.

And the club with just two symbols

That's always getting led.

It's the vaunted jack of diamonds

That can wipe your total clean,

And the spade they call the Maverick

That can drop the deadly queen.

Sure, they think they have you beaten,

But they'll sing a different tune.

You need just run out your diamonds

And you're sure to shoot the moon.

But the guy who sits beside you

Has a secret to impart.

Far beneath his stack of garbage

He reveals a single heart.

(Oh, drat.)