Bridge Lessons

By Ben Macnair

The inscription reads,
To Laura, may the lessons of this book
stand you in good stead, love Dad,  Christmas 1985.

It is a book of bridge lessons,
written before the internet,
when mistakes had to be learnt,
in the singular.

No-one offering advice on a you-tube video,
no forums saying what needs to be done, 
and in what order.

The book is 40 years old, 
Dad might have slipped the mortal coil,
as may Laura, who may never have taken
a single lesson to heart,
or applied it to any part of life
outside of a short game of Bridge.

We will never know the truth of it,
other than a totem of the past,
linking generations.

Ben Macnair is an award winning poet and playwright from Staffordshire in the United Kingdom. Follow him on Twitter @ benmacnair