The Gambler

It was the big day.
The race.
Tort was a fool
to think he could beat Jack.
Jack is the fastest around.

Even so, it was a
race nonetheless.
The broker gave me 10-to-1.
Gambling is in my blood,
but I refused to put
money on Tort.

Tort was a fool’s bet.
Wait, the race is starting.
And Tort is left in
Jack’s dust.
I’ll make money,
for sure.

I wait at the finish
to confirm my victory.
Tort appears on the horizon.
Where is Jack?
He is sleeping.
Overconfidence is the true fool.

Part of my creative writing class this semester requires that I write a journal. I figured I'd like to post my journal entries up here, though I don't know if my professor will accept them in this format. No matter.

This poem was part of my "audition" for the class - 15 minutes to write a poem, 20 minutes to write a short piece of fiction, and a submission of previous work to the professor by Thursday, along with reason for wanting to be in the class. Here's to hping that I get to stay in. The prompt for this poem was to re-imagine a well-known story. For those who haven't yet figured it out, this is the story of the tortoise ("Tort") and the hare ("Jack" Rabbit), as told from the perspective of a gambler betting that the hare will win.