Fair and Square

Each day we are home,

Ed and I play games.

The first game we play is Rummikub.

Generally, Ed sets the tiles out

while I do up the breakfast dishes.

Ed doesn’t cheat,

but without fail he ends up with the red wild tile.

“I don’t cheat,”

he says emphatically when we chide him.

And then mysteriously,

I start getting the black wild tile.

How fair is that?

The tiles are upside down

but he puts the red where

he knows he will draw it

and the black on my side

so I’ll draw it.

Every day.

And every day,

I smile as I think of how thoughtful and gentle he is,

cheating fairly and squarely.