CASINO

Simply stated and nicely executed.

Nice to see you around again Amanda.

Gosh, I dunno know if I could even pick a favorite phrase in this one. Very evocative, lovely turns of phrase, as always a stunner!

..
U
Wishing You Laughter

I missed your magic words
pray you had not gone away
So glad to wallow in your glitter
such words I read today.

Good stuff

Amanda, it's really GREAT to see you back in these here parts! This is a wonderful poem with an end line that fully hammers home the import of the verse in a haunting way. It is a line to remember, and I will. Hope all is well with you.

this makes me miss my weekly trips to Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.... I never spent much, but I had so much fun!! The lights, the sounds, just like you described in your poetry!

Stay away, it's just trouble.

Amanda~ perfect again!!! Glad you're back:) This is too real...stained defeat and pray to lady luck!!! I avoid casinos for this same reason...have seen this happen to people I know way too many times!!! Thanks!!!

Wonderful writing, Amanda. It's VERY GOOD to have you around!!

Amanda - How well you capture the despair that is inherent in these places. It's so good to see you back.

Amen to the final line.

Your poem reminds me of the . . . I don't even know the word for how I felt, the one time I visited Las Vegas. I felt that I could see and hear the desperation around me, cloaked as pleasure. I had such a strong reaction to it that within two hours I was ill, and spent three days in bed with earplugs, trying to block out the sounds of the casino, which you can't seem to get away from anywhere. I think my girlfriend had a good time, though. I hardly saw her at all, so she must have had fun.

Wonderful to see you back. A truly magnificent poem on the ebbs and flows of money and luck determining the flow of times. Excellent flow of words culminating in the crowning glory of that last line.

Beautifully done! There is an Indian Casino on this mountain near where I live. With its 'just came down out of the woods' visitors it exudes a different atmosphere than casinos near town. I just can't bring myself to gamble on the new electronic machines. I miss the old hand crank kind where the sound you heard when you hit the jackpot was that of money falling into the tray. Now I go to the casino just for the fabulous buffet that is almost free after they give you coupons for gambling money that can be spent on anything. They also give a 20% discount on meals so it ends up costing about 50 cents for a prime rib, or lobster, or crab, or steak, or barbequed ribs, (or some of each) with choices of vegetables, soup, salad and luscious desserts. That is their special for people over 55 and it is offered every Tuesday and Thursday at our own Golden Acorn Casino.

Excellent execution of words that briefly develop a setting for disaster. Done in stellar brevity as only 'amanda' could do!!!

Beautiful picture of you!!!

How do you do that? They say a picture paints a thousand words, but, in your work, a few words paint a thousand pictures. Other writers would have had to write volumes to give us what you have in a few lines. And, you take your personal experiences and turn them into art, instantly. What a great artist!

You are my favorite writer (and I am not just saying that to reciprocate). I have missed your work (and you) so much. Thanks for coming back.

When I first joined Gather, your work was the first thing I read, and, boy, did it set the bar really high. Someday, you will take your place among the greats. We've got to figure out a way to get volumes of your work published, so that you can reap the financial benefits of your work, now. You've made my morning with your return.

Thank you all so much. I have a severe gambling problem and that's why I brought this poem to light. I'm humbled by your praise. Warren, I can't thank you enough...

Great to have you back Amanda. You own this one. Wonderful!

Welcome back, Amanda. I hope your recovery is going well - you were one of the first Gatherers to read my humble works and request a connection, so I have certainly missed you!

Meaningful words express the subject most clearly. I love going to the Casino whether I win or lose. Nice to see you around again Amanda.

The last line wraps it up wonderfully. Very nice work Amanda, I see you haven't lost your touch!

I love the line "jokers gulping down the tide" very nice. There's a novella by Dostoyevsky (the guy who wrote Crime and Punishment) called The Gambler that works as a kind of literary pill to turn people off gambling. I highly recommend it.

Nice description of what people look for in that city. I almost can't say the name. This is the second discussion I have had about Las Vegas tonight. Interesting.

Glad your back, Amanda. Another truly amazing piece of work. I've never been to a casino until now. Your vivid words and imagery transported me there. Did you happen to find a Gathers Ananomous while you were on sabbatical. Haha. Luckily, gambling is the only addictions I haven't picked up but it is only because I live in Alabama where it is illegal. Thank the lord for that or that would be another problem I would have to deal with. I can't even play solitaire on the computer without kissing the entire day goodbye trying to beat the son of a bitch. Again, you mesmerize me with your brilliance. Now who is the bipoar genious here?

Let me add one voice to the chorus of all who delight to see your words again; I know you'll probably have to 'ease in' to the currents again at Gather, and hope you will come along at your own pace.
This work is one of your all time best, at least IMHO; to capture the surface beauty and glimmer and glitter, then submerge to the underside of the scene and reveal the desperation, the dark undertow pulling the enslaved ever deeper... it is both beautiful and terrifying. Exceptional work, dear Amanda. Take care of yourself!

Welcome back Amanda!

well, well, well, a FINE piece of work Ms Amanda...glad you've returned to the edge of light... its all about balance. I missed ya girl!... ; ) J's right, the undertow of which he speaks is there always. You must remember Balance.

beautiful, amanda! i've missed you. glad you're back, and in such form!

This is a great piece, Amanda, it brought back memories of Vegas so vividly. Here's hoping you are exorcizing those demons.

This perfectly describes the desperate feelings of hope that you can get in Las Vegas along with the atmosphere of smoke, buffets, sounds, and brillance. Gambling is so very addictive because of the fun and excitement that goes along with it combined with the need to win-back any loses.

Very nice!

How you have described Vegas and gambling - and one of the reasons I prefer the backcountry and the ghosts of pokerrooms in towns of bygone days!

Amanda... superb wordplay and said with succinct tight phrases. While you were away you did not lose any of your creative juices, because here you are again in rare form.

Excellent Amanda, You are a great word smith!

I liked the lack of punctuation to amplify the polyvalency that emerges as the harsh entrapping images constellate in their semiotic field. There's some great brief descriptions--"stipped desert", the synaesthetic combination of rhyming "glaring" and "blaring" with light and sound--as well as a legerdemain with the fatalism of the verbs that force the human mind in a disorienting landscape to submit to risk--addiction games and machines.

Overall, a chilling vision of human need and loneliness making someone else the big buck: So much for luck.

Your language perfectly suits your subject, amanda, and the poem does climax well in your last line of total submission to the gambler's trap.

The lure of the excitement, and the risks taken,good poem.

Wow! Amanda, what a poem!!! How true!!!

That last line packs a hell of a wallop - excellently done.
You are a gifted writer - no one does angst like you, dearheart.