I walk through the casino
to get to the pool.
Slot machines
in a taped-off area,
have been opened up
like patients undergoing heart surgery,
their dark, mechanical innards exposed–
lights off,
sounds silenced,
hearts excised.

Not playmates.
Not friends.
Simply gutless machines
programmed to fool  you
into giving them your money.

I watch people playing.
Some of them
look similar–
robotic,
dazed,
empty…

Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.