An oboe struggles to
keep up with flush
and royal violins;
its baw-baw laugh
mistaken for contempt like
the kind sneered by card-
sharps towards a lucky-go-
happy idiot, smiling beneath
bubbly chandeliers with
his mango and ukulele splattered
yellow shirt buttoned wrong at
the neck as violins
exalt a high-roller suite while
the oboe busts then blows
the blackjack blues.