Joker

You haven’t left,

I know for sure.

I saw you in Sainsbury’s

Only the other day,

Your cart piled high

With goodies.

The dead don’t change;

They carry on,

Playing the same old game.

Shuffling the pack,

I see you again,

Ignoring the rules.

Well past your sell-by date:

Your smile as bright

As a new-minted coin,

Deceiving no one.

Untold

I saw seven magpies

On a walk

By the ruins of an old fort.

That means luck, I thought.

The fort stares out to sea,

Waiting for invaders who never came.

The birds didn’t stir,

As if they belonged there.

They took off finally, three, then four.

Like omens, I felt.

No five for silver

Or six for gold.

Two should bring joy,

The old rhyme says;

Not sorrow, like one;

But seven’s a secret untold.