The Bet

There’s the irony, to be au fait declines naivety 

unless you fake the openness which breaks or 

bends the thought you’d had a hand in it; they 

say that silence is a wise defence, unless that 

hint of guilt it bides connects a turning tide, oy 

vey - am I that obvious suggests you knew, or 

paid a backhand compliment cognoscenti see 

as A OK within the sense you’ve just abused 

And then there’s me - not innocent at least as 

far as being open when it matters can assist - 

but deference implies you’re wiser than those 

staring, star-crossed eyes surmised, - & that’s 

a trap you won’t survive without a safety net - 

and thus the bet will never need be paid 

© 19 March 2015, I. D. Carswell