[Cal]
Don’t let Marlene’s embroiled
discourse spoil your delights.
Are you here for bridge,
or sacrilegious small talk
as you spin fidgets,
and sip my fine libations
when chasing fascinations
discovered within
deeply shared contemplations?
Collin Hasting’s here
drinking his beer over there
at his corner, square table
ready and waiting
to share his crafty bidding
and card finessing
with those who dare to challenge
his esteemed bridge team’s prowess.
[Marlene]
I guess we will see
what he will confess about
how he coalesced
his famed strategy at cards
with regards to playing bridge.
[Grace]
Nice meeting you, Cal.
Any pal of Marlene’s needs
scrutinization.
[Marlene]
You’re quick, Grace. Cal’s a grand guy
with good facets but not shy
Collin, no takers?
[Collin]
Hi, Marlene, good to see you.
Would you like to play?
Jill should show very shortly.
Both of our dance cards are
clear for sincere friends
or challengers to join us
to discuss . . . play . . . or
pursue difficult answers
to old riddles. Anyway
we choose to amuse
this pleasant evening away.
Hello, I’m Collin.
[Grace]
I’m Grace, nice to share your space.
How long have you known Marlene?
[Collin]
Since before I toured
the Halls of Justice to gain
the praxis of law
against illegal actions
by cops and prosecutors
who evolved into
instigators of civil
rights violators.
[Marlene]
Collin is the youngest judge
who’s impossible to nudge
off of the legal
technicalities that please
skilled defense lawyers
who will scrutinize with ease
and then please sleazy humans.
Because you’re my friend,
Collin, I’m obliged, quickly,
before faux pas soar
and embarrassments ensue,
to confide to all that this
Grace is the daughter
of Shey Doyle, the public
face of women’s place
to be the power that leads
the way to display the truth
that the female sex
is a complex of traits that
is naturally
more effective over males
to scale obstacles and quell
the cacophony
thereby to propel humans
beyond animal
tendencies to blindly seek
competition as the best
pathway to address
advancing evolution.
A poor solution!
[Collin]
Hi Jill ! Thrilled you’re here to meet
and greet a friend of Marlene’s
who completes the four
needed to explore this night’s
labor, Grace Doyle.
[Jill]
Shey Doyle, your fine mother,
toiled just like her father
to bother villains
with such a robust fierceness.
But, her dates never
knew that she tossed around crooks
who mistook all women as
being frail weaklings
fearful of beatings from brutes
who cannot compute
resolve and technology
as being purveyors of
superior force
that then altered nature’s course
from male physical
prowess to cognition’s best
solution to wrest power
from muscles and thighs.
But, oh my ! Her attire
slew the hearts of men
who had to contend with her
graceful feminine wiles.
She was a knock out
to view as she drew suitors
wanting more access
to her affections with hopes
of gaining recognition
to pursue further
a stable future with her.
But she was content
with her strong self-reliance
and meant to fuel that intent.
[Grace]
You knew my mother?
How do you know my mother?
What more can you tell?
[Jill]
I was her partner for years
when she began her career
on the police force
until I changed course to fill
a prosecutor’s
job to rob any defense
against villainy performed.
Those she arrested,
I prosecuted under
Collin’s watchful eyes.