Playing a game of marbles,
A pastime when we were kids.
Getting the gang together
Is how we put boredom on skids.
Drawing a large diameter circle,
About five feet in size;
Adding a lag line nearby,
Determining who went first
We thought was wise.
Generally there was five to play,
Sometimes more, but not every day.
Every one donated two marbles,
This was to establish the pot,
Placed in the circle's center,
Didn't seem like a lot!
After lagging to see who went first,
The game began with a burst.
With a design in the middle,
Like a cross or a plus,
The shooter had to hit the design,
Scattering a few marbles,
Breaking up the sign.
In order to collect a marble,
It had to go out of the circle,
If not, then the next shooter enabled.
So it went, until all had a turn.
When all marbles were removed,
Winnings for each player tallied,
The one having the larger number,
Won the contest for the day.
We said play for keeps, losers weeps.
Knuckles down, skinny bones tight,
Was our chant to keep players right.
Those magical orbs were put away,
Lost to the ages, where are they today?l
