September 26: A Roll of the Dice

Four cups, five dice a-rattle, then upend

The cup and sneak a glance at what’s beneath,

And hope those private faces don’t portend

An easy-to-guess lying through one’s teeth.

For bidding on the pips you don’t possess

Is risky, but an awful lot of fun,

For when the bid is called, whether success

Or failure is achieved relies on one

To play the odds, for one’s long-standing friends

Make every gamble seem beyond the pale,

So utilizing some unusual ends

Means hoping that with fortune you’ll prevail.

The dwin...