I landed among delusion, with a lag

and a dogsbody. I was hauled within a millimetre

of someone’s brown balaclava.

I was a deb in line with a litre of jackpots

holding a new key and a gypsy.

I blundered past the icing, the pioneer pasties

until it became confusing.

There was some mug serving vol-au-vents

in the event of an accident.

The dogsbody left for a two-up game back east

and though I wrote to the mug

there were questions about indemnities.

I couldn’t tell if the lag had the only weapon.

They looked like blackballs or something

you’d wear in an airlift. I did not lose

though the vortex was faulty

too many yes-men hamming it up

for too many yobbos. The dollars shook down

their own catastrophe. I became a debacle

in pearls with a litter of Jaffas. I dropped

the lucky cards

the horizon got shonky. I gave up crystals

and tea leaf methodologies. I could not lose

though the yardstick was dodgy.

It was a blast in the blunders.

And thanks for the bluffs.