Edward Hirsch

SCOTTISH GAMBLERS

She worked at a downscale casino,
dealing blackjack to working suckers
like my Edinburgh roommate, Arturo,

and I used to meet her in hotel bars
during the day, feeding her rum and coke
and letting her talk about the losers

like her daft husband, a factory bloke
who could never seem to hit a bet
and beat her sometimes "for good luck,"

until we drifted back to my flat,
which was empty in the afternoon,
and made love on the tattered carpet

and cried in each other's arms, Irene,
like gamblers who had lost, or children.