Seven/ Eleven. Poem by Buddy Bee Anthony

When I was barely in my teens, my mom
and dad won a free trip to Las Vegas. My mother, was
uncorrupted, a loyal unsophisticated from peasant stock.
From humble Winnipeg Canadian origins.
When she married my dad
he was the only man
she became intimately involved with.
My mother was simple, loving, generous and kind,
My mother didn't act out or was what would say adventuress. Her routine didn't vary much, and she wasn't one generally to go too far astray.
Bacl them. she wasn't much in the kitchen either.
Not being a master chef, mom,
Tossed a roast or some boiled chicken into the oven with some liquid. all sparsely seasoned, with basic foods.
I got good at eating macaroni out of the box.
after burning one of her roasts in their own dried up juices.
along with something that looked like dead, mushy, potatoes and carrots,
If you wanted fine cuisine in our household.
you'd have to order in or out.
Those with discerning palates, exotic tastes
and picky eaters didn't seek out or fare very well
at our dinner table.
As far as I can recall, mom never smoked
drank nor swore.
When mom arrived in Sin City
after checking in at The Sands Hotel, ,
My parents were whisked away to see
an Edie Gourmet, and Steve Lawrence
concert
In the early hours of the morning.
She, then, ventured out into the casino.
Like a bug to a bug zapper
my mom was irresistable drawn
to the excitement of the craps table, .
She felt elated when she was asked
to roll the table dice.

Not being aware of the in's or outs of craps,
having a dim awareness of what
she was betting on.
After rolling her first pair of dice.
She hit a seven or an eleven.
Which made her a winner
on her first roll of the dice.
She let her dollar chip ride on that bet.
But, then my mother rolled only points
She went on a numbers roll for almost 45 minutes before rolling another
crap out roll of 7 or 11..
She was rolling winning point numbers
for all the other players
who were now getting rich
off her stunningly unusual run of the dice.,
which involved betting against
any craps roll.
Meanwhile, my mom was screaming 7/11,
trying to win as she had won
with her first roll of the dice.
For my mother to win another dollar
would wipe out the rest of the table
who were now acquiring riches from mom
who kept rolling their point numbers
She didn't crap out for what
must have seemed like an eternity to the house.
One very fortunate gambler
who was an undertaker, from Louisiana,
raked in close to a quarter of a million
dollars due to
mom's unusual beginners luck
The croupier, commented, how they'd
never seen such an incredible
run of the dice.
Yes, mother was on a hot streak.
If only she was betting
in the opposite direction.

Every time she rolled her dice
shouting out 7/11,
Without a doubt,
the other big rollers at her table
wanted to feed her strychnine.
My mother just didn't know better.
When she finally crapped out at the table,
by some miracle, throwing a 7 or an 11,
all the other betters gathered up
their riches, as they departed,
they tipped the casino workers big time.
The undertaker from Louisiana,
threw the croupier sixteen hundred dollars.
Mom made twelve dollars on her bets.
The undertaker sneered at my mother,
begrudgingly, chucking her
a hundred dollar chip before stomping off.
My mother immediately went to the cashiers cage
to cash in her hundred dollar windfall
so she could mail the money
back home, to her ailing father
who had been forced to take an early retirement.


All rights reserved as is by author..

Buddy Bee Anthony