Reaching $1.6 billion, a record,
the lottery summoned a record…
(the dream of becoming a billionaire,
surely bigger than that of being a mere millionaire,
and definitely better than that of a trifling thousandaire)
…number of gamers,
most of whom, small risk-takers
who plunked down $2
to bet
they might get
(if not every dollar, then)
at least a small part of the pot
(Is that a lot
to ask
when the number’s so vast?)
Well, the winning numbers are all in –
Of the millions who bet,
perhaps praying to the silent sky
(for I don’t think God cares, by the by)
That they might get
a piece of the pie,
the pot was split among but three,
each now a half-billionaire to be
(at least, before taxes!).
I didn’t wager,
not even a dollar,
for with a 292,000,000 to 1 probability
I found it hard (really, an impossibility!)
to see myself a winner
(so, as I didn’t wager,
today, I’m $2 richer).
Though happy for the three now with their bank accounts o’erflowing
(though now, too, I think they’ll have more friends than they e’er thought of knowing!),
I still have a question, ‘round my head racing:
I wonder how many of our sisters and brothers poor,
from their meager financial resources, poured
their money,
which they could ill afford,
into the lottery,
betting
that they might net
a part
of the pot,
all for naught?
Another question nagging:
What sort of society sanctions gambling,
which, doubtless, entices the spending
of those on the margins living?
paulrobertsabernathy 