Pack of Lies

We’ve told all our lies.
We know them, name them, mark them
queen, knave, joker, false ace
and move them on the table between us.

A new lie has a sharp heat
the blue seed on a welder’s torch.
The other lies re-assemble about it
curling forward and becoming truth.

Then we re-shuffle, poker faces adjusting.












Jamie Sullivan teaches writing and literature at Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota. He finds joy in creation but considers submitting work a mild torture he often succeeds in avoiding. He has published work in many literary journals.