Bridge

BRIDGE by Janni Patrikios

You really aught to learn they said the game of bridge to play

So come and join our lessons, I mean it, don’t delay

You never will regret it, you’ll love it, just you see

It’s a game played with a partner and you can play with me !

So first they taught me ace is four and Jacks are only one

And queens and voids and doubletons, it looked like so much fun

And so I entered it with glee and learned a lot of stuff

Took pride in all my new found skills and loved an ace to ruff

I thought I knew this game to play but very shortly saw

That what I thought was expertise was only one foot in the door

There’s transfers, Yarboroughs, systems, bluffs and slams both big and small

There’s calls to find your aces, kings and darling that’s not all

So many pitfalls, skills and tactics and I know that now you’ll guess

The next thing you must learn they said is how to – yes, finesse !

So thanks to all you patient chaps who’ve welcomed Jan and me

Thanks for all the tips and hints and comeraderie

We sure look forward to next winter when we hope to share

A surer, better, with finesse – bridge – with savoir faire !

ZIMBABWE by Janni Patrikios

Land of vast and sweeping plain,

Land of lashing, teeming rain

Land of torrid, pulsing heat

Land of maize and golden wheat,

Glowing sunsets, stunning skies

Rosy glows that dazzle eyes

Brown skinned babies naked lie

Under the blue and cloudless sky

Toddlers tumbling, jump, skip, run

Playing in the noonday sun

Land of war torn strife and fears

Land of laughter, life and tears

Land that once was home so dear

Forever lost, yet ever near

Always in my heart and mind

Beloved land now left behind

janni's journal: This is where I will put my poems

janni's journal:MY WIFE

I see her hands now gnarled and bent, trembling, clumsy

Aged with spots that tell the years

I see her eyes now faded and inward looking, gentle still but dim with time

I see her legs, now veined, weary, somewhat lumpy should the truth be told

I see her lips, now creased with age and thin not plump

I remember the way they were when first we kissed

And yet, in spite of all the years now gone, I see her still as she once was

Vibrant, laughing, hands a symphony of movement as she spoke

Her dancing legs a celebration of the joy of life she felt

And those sweet lips that spoke of love and kissed our slumbering infants

O love of mine what wreckage all our years has rent

I wouldn’t change a scrap of it - our trials and tears

Our loving to the end and always sharing

I see not what is now but then

I love you still, e’en more, my life, my love, my wife

janni's journal: This is where I will put my poems

janni's journal: MY WIFE

I see her hands now gnarled and bent, trembling, clumsy

Aged with spots that tell the years

I see her eyes now faded and inward looking, gentle still but dim with time

I see her legs, now veined, weary, somewhat lumpy should the truth be told

I see her lips, now creased with age and thin not plump

I remember the way they were when first we kissed

And yet, in spite of all the years now gone, I see her still as she once was

Vibrant, laughing, hands a symphony of movement as she spoke

Her dancing legs a celebration of the joy of life she felt

And those sweet lips that spoke of love and kissed our slumbering infants

O love of mine what wreckage all our years has rent

I wouldn’t change a scrap of it - our trials and tears

Our loving to the end and always sharing

I see not what is now but then

I love you still, e’en more, my life, my love, my wife

This is where I will put my poems

Poems and writing here