when you say the word “gin” to me
I don’t think of the liquor,
even though I remembered it’s terrible smell
whenever mom and dad would have
their daily gin martinis,
two dry martinis, on the rocks, with a twist.
Actually, now when they go to street parties
in southwest Florida
they just bring two ice-filled glasses
and a bottle of gin,
they say,
we used so little vermouth anyway.
but even though I have these memories
I don’t think of liquor when I hear the word
“gin”
I think of the card game,
not gin rummy, but the two person card game
my parents played whenever they’d have company over
I don’t think I ever played gin with my parents
but I remember the game
like it’s been burned into my brain now
and whenever me and my husband
are looking for something to do in the evening
we suggest playing gin
(which I had to teach him how to play)
and we call all the time to win quickly
and we don’t keep score,
we just spend time
playing card together
like my parents always did.
