My Game

‘It exercises my brain,’ I say, 

or, ‘It de-stresses me.’  Truth is,

my Grandma taught me long ago

and it suited me, then and now. 

‘Little Rosemary,’

a family friend used to say,

‘With her feet on the ground, 

and her head in the clouds.’

I like to withdraw

for dreaming or musing

or just being 

with myself, by myself.

I read, I write, I think —

those solitary occupations.

I go for walks alone,

and I’m a solitary witch.

You must have guessed by now

my game is Solitaire,

otherwise known as Patience.

In different ways, I need both.

Once it was cards,

now it’s computer screen.

It requires a small part of my brain;

the rest goes wandering.

Real or virtual, the cards 

are red and white and black:

the Goddess’s colours —

which makes me smile to myself.

I savour the satisfying click

as I shift them with my mouse,

while in my mind I shift

the gears of the Universe.

30 Poems in 30 Days: 16, Playing a game