The Bookie’s Turf

Zeal, Spirit, Hope, and Confidence

Are said to constitute “morale,”

But I, though pleading self-defense,

Find hard to see how, if so, hence

Innocence romps in that locale

(Turf of the Bookie, claims Pascal)

Who on my own recognizance

Should forfeit there, in consequence,

Wit, Doubt, and graceful Diffidence

Et al.—confabulation’s weathered fence.

Thursday, April 3, 2025