Masterworks Series: The Card Players

Pipes and Perspective

Rainy days bring farmers inside

Waiting for nature

To allow their tending and tilling.

The card table calls

To men seeking to avoid

The boredom of delay;
A game of chance and skill
To pass the time.

Smoking his clay pipe

He leans against the wall

Observing the game.
Giving no indication,

He quietly calculates.

Knowing what he would do with that hand,

Wondering what the player will do,
He watches the game unfold.

Awaiting the next round,

He is readying himself for involvement.

A farmer never simply waits.

Whether stopping for rest

Or halting for the elements,

His mind is at work
Considering his options
Contemplating the next move.

Working with the hand he is dealt,

A peasant farmer moves diligently

To influence the outcome.

Living in connection with the earth,

He knows his limits

And constantly adjusts,
Hoping that the fields
Will grant a good harvest.

One bad hand would bring despair

Were it not for the knowledge

That there will be another.

So he pauses –

Sharpening his mind,

Puffing his pipe,     

Waiting for a new deck

And a seat at the table.

                                                 ~ CK 

__________________________
Image: The Card Players at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Artist: Paul Cézanne (French,1839–1906)
Date: 1890–92
Medium: Oil on canvas

< Previous Post                                                                                                                                      Next Post >

Index

-