No Favourites (Poetry)

Fate’s given us a lottery —
a deadly kind of game
the odds aren’t fair or even
this isn’t played the same

It takes no skill or judgement
the rules aren’t written down
no privilege or favour shown
to either king or clown

Though no one paid to enter
there’s tickets in the hat
if they don’t pick our number out
we thank the Lord for that

It’s not a game for winning —
no handshake and no gold
if given choice we’d like a shot
at simply growing old

Each day they count the losers
unlucky from the start
while we all wish for some way that
we don’t have to take part

The finger points at random
there’s nothing we can do
but hope like optimists or take
the fatalistic view