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Introductory note from
Diane McHaffie:
This Mike Caro poem first appeared on the inside back cover of Poker Digest magazine, shortly after September 11, 2001.
It stands in contrast to many of Mike’s poems from his pre-poker past, which usually don’t rhyme and have muted structure. Here he uses precise meter and rhyme to create an almost childlike rhythm — until we reach an unexpected final thought.
The photo is from the National Park Service and is in the public domain.
- I’m the director of operations for Mike Caro University of Poker, Gaming, and Life Strategy (MCU), assisting Mike with the development of Poker1.
The Importance of Poker
on a September Day
Our lives play like a poker game
We bet, we bluff, we call, we fold
And no two hands play out the same
And no new day shall be foretold
We seldom know what’s next to come
We face our future, unresolved
Life’s cards are always shuffled from
A deck too deep to have evolved
We never grasp the truth beyond
We’re not supposed to see that far
And so we share our poker bond –
A bond much greater than we are
Oh, poker is important, see
Because it’s like life’s training ground
And all our poker strategy
In life is even more profound
But then toy planes plow through the glass
It doesn’t look like truth to me
Towers falling into crumbled mass
A terror that ought never be
Deep, deep below the tangled towers
And down within the darkened pits
There is a room that once was ours
It is a place where poker fits
— Mike Caro