The Gambler

<br>On a dark night in a lost hour<br><br>In a town built from neon and chrome<br><br>Where las vegas seeks the desert<br><br>In an old broken down casino<br><br>There the gambler slapped his money down<br><br>Dirty dollars one hundred or more<br><br>Placed his last bet on a poker game<br><br>Crossed his heart for the winning score<br><br><br><br>But the players at the table<br><br>Two men of the phantom creed<br><br>Seemed to play with sombre purpose<br><br>Than a reason and pure greed<br><br>And the gambler felt his back freeze<br><br>And fear brushed his ageing brow<br><br>For hed seen those men before in his dreams<br><br>Here they sat before him now<br><br><br><br>And the one smoothed back his black hair<br><br>With a comb slicked by brylcream and grease<br><br>Flipped the cards with a flippancy<br><br>Of a wily and slippery ease<br><br>With his sharp suit shade of lilac<br><br>On a shuffle he made the cards sing<br><br>Gold studs and menthol cigarettes<br><br>Rubies set in a skull ring<br><br><br><br>And the other of the clergy<br><br>With a colour and robe of pale ivory<br><br>Silver grey at the temples<br><br>And a smile that was stern and was kindly<br><br><br><br>Jack of hearts lead, wait for aces<br><br>Became faces of family and friends<br><br>Until the deck showed him a picture<br><br>Of his life from beginning to end<br><br>Reverend life he flipped an ace<br><br>And the gambler felt blood in his heart<br><br>For he knew this was the game of games<br><br>He would need all the reverends heart<br><br><br><br>Anger, lust and gluttony<br><br>The gambler seems hit hard<br><br>Each failure and each feature<br><br>Mapped out in the slippery cards<br><br>Greasy mr.d. flashed a winning grin<br><br>And stood facing reverend life<br><br>The reverend paled as he saw the score<br><br>The gambler felt pain as a knife<br><br><br><br>His troubles, tribulations<br><br>Revelations and regrets<br><br>A wife, a child, a fight to trial<br><br>Turned by the hand of death<br><br>And the gambler saw his hand stained<br><br>With the blood of his family ties<br><br>And with the yellow smile of mr.d.<br><br>In his mind he crumples and dies<br><br><br><br>And these two great men from different worlds<br><br>Faced each other and shook of hands<br><br>The reverend shrugged &quot;ah well next time&quot;<br><br>And departed for heavens land<br><br><br><br>And the flames leapt and the soul screamed<br><br>And the cards scattered round the room<br><br>And life is always a gamble<br><br>A game from the cradle to tomb<br><br><br><br>And the flames leapt and the soul screamed<br><br>And the cards scattered round the room<br><br>And life is always a gamble<br><br>A game from the cradle to tomb<br><br><br><br>And the flames leapt and the soul screamed<br><br>And the cards scattered round the room<br><br>And life is always a gamble<br><br>A game from the cradle to tomb