a queen of hearts, a jack of spades,
a shuffling of the deck, a shedding
of the cards, a game of love underway

a stronger masculine hand, matching
of wits, a test of patience, a sip
of sights, the queen plays her trick

a little allusion meant to attract
the slightest attention, carefully
calculated slips of the glossy lips

sharp whips of the dense eyelashes
the glances grazing against each other
a flirting flutter in the frail heart

a talk so sweet, loud the hearts beat,
a momentary loss of male concentration
and she bluffs him into a tame submission.

– Debasis Tripathy