Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Number Game

I played the lotto for years when it came to state
Spent my millions at least a million times in mind
And on paper. We talked about what we would
Do with our new wealth once our numbers came
In. I played one lotto built on numbers from our
Lives, birthdays, ages, important dates.

One night I had a dream and six perfect numbers
In different shades of beauty appeared one at a time
I woke up, remembered each number, each shade,
Every part of the dream right down to the smokey
Hue the numbers were all coming from. I was a
Winner, this was it, I just had to play those numbers,

I did for four or five years until I had a daydream.
I was sitting on my front porch looking out at the world
When everything became hazy and smoke filled
Finally letters began to appear one at a time in
Different bright neon colors. S..U…C..K..E…R..
Then nothing else.

(Written for We Write Poems Prompt)

16 comments:

Mary said...

The moral of the story: Pay more attention to daydreams then night dreams!

P.S. I think I bought a lottery ticket....once!

Victoria said...

Strong and un expected. It is so human to want an easy change - money, weight loss, happiness, whatever. I guess to be human is to be partly a sucker. At least that's true of me.

Paul Andrew Russell said...

LOL A cool and very true piece of writing. I like this.

Paul Andrew Russell said...

LOL A cool and very true piece of writing. I like this.

Peggy Goetz said...

Fun to read about your numbers, Judy! Cleverly done.

Bill said...

Funny. made me laugh outloud.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed that - even though I'm a sucker to end all suckers. You know the story of the chap who prayed every night "Please God, let me win the lottery". This went on for a year until one night there was a reply "Give me a break: if you want to win, you have to buy a ticket."

Donald Harbour said...

I play it twice a week. A dollar a pop. Each ticket a winner. Eventually someone is going to win, might as well be me. I couldn't have expressed by intent and disappointment more succinctly Thanks for the poem, good job.
Regards,
Don

flaubert said...

Judy,
This made me laugh! I played Florida's lotto 3 times when I lived there and never won a penny. But I am not much of a gambler. I hated Vegas for that reason, I spent twenty dollars while on vacation there.
Pamela

Flying Monkey said...

Loved it! I never buy lottery tickets but know exactly what I would do with the money if I would win. LOL. I think I'm the person in Viv's story :-)

Elizabeth said...

Delightful read with that slam on the end. Made me smile. Used to do the lottery, when I had money. That was long, long ago.

Elizabeth

Tilly Bud said...

LOL! Great take on the prompt and a valuable lesson for us all.

gautami tripathy said...

What an enjoyable read with a great moral!

retrieval

Willow said...

Love this poem, Judy...it should be posted at every lotto venue...titled SUCKER. But, the proceeds go to education, right? So something good comes from it.

Judy Roney said...

Truthfully, I still play a dollar here, a dollar there. I do tell myself that the proceeds do some good such as education and I know now that it's unlikely that I will win. I have had all that money spent so many times that it's a relief not to "believe" any longer. LOL

Anonymous said...

I love this. Very tongue in cheek, and you illustrate one of the reasons why I never play the lottery.

-Nicole