'Scrabble'

We used to pride ourselves
on the words we knew.
The dictionary sat beside us
but was seldom consulted.

I'm amazed when I think now
of how few words we actually used

to talk, that final game
we played over and over.
Our vocabularies froze,
it was as though we were down
to our last rack
of letters, board

space was limited to tight
corners or tricky gaps,
and the time limit, set so
long ago when time seemed endless,
ticked softly to its end.

	-- Louis McKee