Steve Klepetar

Poker Face

Beneath our enchanting facial expressions
the skull always waits, poker face.

Tomas Transtromer

It holds eights and aces,
lingers awhile over the last
bet as the pot swells,

ice clinks in the glasses,
cigar smoke curls,
and in the background

a soft guitar, a woman
singing about the endless road.

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Steve Klepetar’s granddaughter Lizzy has a favorite Jane Austen novel, and he’d like you to try and guess which one.

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