"You dont know how to play the game," she said.
"I dont play games," I replied.
"More's the pity," was her answer,
"your emotions you must hide."
I never learned to play the game
of How to Catch a Man.
My honest heart
stood in one place,
race over before it began,
too easy a victory,
no thrill of the chase.
I still dont play games.
I dont know how to do that dance
of simulated advance-retreat,
arched eyebrows, pretty pout,
so at some point I decided,
when it comes to Romance,
I think
I'll just sit
this one
out.
Poetry Jam's prompt is : Games, and their place in our lives.
ha that can definitely be a game...the hunt of another....kinda glad i dont have to play it these days...it seems much more complicated than it once was...smiles.
ReplyDeleteAwww... there is nothing 'wallflower' about you at all!
ReplyDeleteBut, I quit that game a while ago, decided if love wants to find me it can come knocking because I don't chase anymore.. LOL Got enough with a wanna be 25 y/o 16 y/o to look after.
Great poem Sherry :)
Ya, I was never into games either. They bothered me. still do. What you see is what you get with me. No pretense. I sense the same is true with you.
ReplyDeleteYes, that game. It can go awry so easily, where the person you think you married turns out to be someone entirely different then the act he led you to believe was him. Others settle rather than being alone, they end up alone anyway, and alone with two is much lonelier than one alone, I think. The hunt, the enticement, then off to the cave. Yet, sometimes a winner does come along and you happily grow old together.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the romantic games of courtship, I never really found them all that appealing either, seems most of the players I came across were not worth the time. Still, sometimes when we're sitting on the sidelines we can find that kindred soul next to us on the bleachers and embark on a whole different kind of game. Wonderful poem, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteSherry, you have such a wonderful way with words. Your ending was poignant, yet a great declaration of strength.
ReplyDeleteThis one hit me right between the eyes .. I played a few of those games back in the day ~ I know better now.
ReplyDeleteAh and some seemed so skilled at those games way back then. Now I realize no one felt confident and it was a different kind of game than I thought. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI am way too old for that nonsense!
ReplyDeleteOh, that game...yeah I wear my heart on my sleeve and I hate games! ;D
ReplyDeletePretty pout and arched eyebrows...love these details...
Well Done!
A Southern Belle I will NEVER be! I am sure I played a game ... or three back in the day. But NOW... I'm not sure I would know how to be all that flirtatious. (kind of sad, really)
ReplyDeleteI was never good at the romance game either. Love this!
ReplyDeleteGreat take on the prompt! That game always seemed a bit ridiculous to me too. A fun read!
ReplyDeleteCulminates to freshen the whole scenario.
ReplyDeleteI am always game for this sort of a game. :-)
ReplyDeleteI tried all of the games and then got to look at them from the outside--I am so grateful to have come of an age into feminism, which I actually met during my divorce in 1975.
ReplyDeleteI love the light approach in "Playing the Game" and hope you publish it so that millions of junior high and high school girls could read it.
With time, one hopes that everyone will learn to see that games are only for players, and players are only in it to win, then move on to the next game. Good write, Sherry,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
couldn't and wouldn't play... there are a few men who prefer we be ourselves.
ReplyDeletethanks for joining in at Poetry Jam!
♥