Never Presume

"Never presume"

The unofficial
National Anthem

played where introductions
come across like
opening moves of
a military campaign

At first is the
shock and awe

dished out by
those who can
light a fuse

but can't take
the consequences

never presume
to assume
any gesture

across the gambling table
is anything but
a smokescreen

disarming, sure
but watch for the feign

the jab to the solar plexus
that prefaces a powerful
right to the jaw

who, I ask
thrives on the beginnings of
a coronary bypass?

fueled by restaurant food
but just as akin
to blockage?