Monopoly

Saturday night and didn’t have much to do,

nothing, but reruns on the television

just bored and in need of some thrill

in desperation dug out the monopoly game

as several friends came over,

they looked that board with indifference

for none of us was the least bit power hungry

or had egos the were filled with a winner’s lust.

 

So we sat down and picked our game pieces

smiles on the faces and kidding about the game.

For a while it continued to be just distraction,

but slowly the expressions turned dark

when those hotels got added to each place.

 

Oh tried to smirk it off as not mattering

only the comments went for casual and calm

to sneers with vows of vengeance

over those exorbitant play money rents.

 

Really wasn’t my idea of cool

when two of my pals

started to strangle each other

because one had added two hotels to boardwalk,

made worse by the others taking bets on the winners

with those darn fake dollars.

 

Got so absurd as insults got hurled in the air

names like blood sucking greed vampire

or miserable rent hording creep

did nothing to improve the mood.

 

Somewhere in the lunacy

sanity eventually returned

put that game away and ordered a pizza,

slipped a DVD into the machine

of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,

seemed about as much reality as we needed

happy to finally remind ourselves

stress was never a victory

since no contest ever was forever

so might as well be content with a laugh and great snack.