Rolling the dice
by Gail
Today they're coming up doubles,
twos, fives, even sixes three times in a row,
and yesterday all that I saw were odd
numbers, the commonest combinations,
the dots adding up to seven every time.
Last week we rolled for the teams
for the NCAA's college basketball Big Dance,
and since we forgot to allow for the seedings,
an improbable team won.
The dice were just as unpredictable
as they're made out to be,
hot first for him, then me.
The dice rule everything; I know that
this morning. "Random chance in action,"
one math teacher told us, while the boys
who slapped down dollar bills in study hall
grinned and grimaced. On multiple-choice tests
I saw them roll for the answers and get C's.
It's funny what you remember of the past,
how you remember, what brings the darkness back.
Today my childhood comes up snake eyes,
the two eyes coming closer in the night,
and I keep rolling, anything to push those memories away.
