sleight of hand

a found poem

you can pick up
a surprising amount
of information

from watching people's hands

people who are
thinking of betting
will fondle their chips

people who hit
big hands
will often flinch

people who recheck
their cards
after an all-suited flop

were not holding
two spades
to begin with


Found in Mark "The Red" Harlan's Texas Hold 'em for Dummies.

Liars fascinate me -- mostly because I don't know how to do it well myself, and I've been reamed by them in the past. I learned too late (one failed marriage full of lies later) that it was a mistake to search his face -- I should have been watching his hands.