PLAYIN' CARDS----how to pick up and go on

Wednesday cattle auction,
Young wives gather
At the yardman’s apartment.

“Let’s play cards.”
And so the Wednesday afternoon
Penny ante poker club was born.

Gladys, Arlene, Verna, June,
Lillian, Velva and Shirley.
Little children play at their feet,
Tug at their sleeves.

Put in a dollar,
Count out the chips,
The children are teenagers,
Check in after school.

Shuffle the cards,
Bet a penny,
Teenagers go to college,
Get jobs and marry.

Flush beats a straight,
The sale barn closes,
The card game goes on.

Got an ace in the hole,
Next week at Velva’s,
Week after at Lil’s.

Jacks or better,
A pair of kings.
Young ranch wives are grandmas,
Husbands mostly gone.

Railroad terminal replaces
The livestock auction.
The women keep dealing.

Nearly fifty years
Of setting the clock
By the Wednesday afternoon
Penny ante poker club.