"Bad Hand" - Bahamas AI Art
©A. Derek Catalano
Play the Hand You're Dealt
The cards are shuffled, the dealer calls,
No second chances, no curtain falls.
The hand you hold is yours alone,
No trading fate for the unknown.
Some sit with aces, kings in tow,
Life’s golden road laid out below.
Others grasp at tattered twos,
A losing game, it seems, to lose.
But fortune’s not in what you start,
Nor gilded luck or easy part.
The strength to stand, the will to fight,
Defines the play, not black or white.
A queen can falter, jacks can bluff,
A single heart is strong enough.
A lowly pair can steal the night,
If played with patience, played with might.
Don’t curse the cards, don’t wish them new,
Regret is dead weight dressed in blue.
The past is ink, the page won’t change,
But how you read it, rearrange.
The gambler knows, the wise man sees,
That fate is fickle, time’s a breeze.
The only move within your hold,
Is how you play—be brave, be bold.
For those who fold before the fight,
Their dreams dissolve in fading light.
Yet those who stand with steady grace,
Can turn despair to fierce embrace.
A broken hand, a fractured past,
Is not the fate that holds you fast.
For every deck will turn anew,
And luck bows down to those who choose.
So play it well, this life of chance,
No second deals, no backward glance.
The hand you're dealt is yours to mold,
Play it fierce, play it bold.
©A. Derek Catalano/ChatGPT
