“Game recognises game”
Popular saying
Used in some
Black people’s
Conversations
Normally blurted out
When one sees
Their best qualities
In another.
Example given:
Back in the 1950s,
A Florida
Cheesecake model
Didn’t want to
Limit herself to being
Before flashing cameras.
So she switched positions.
The camera
Was in her hands
For a change.
The amateur
Photographer
In this tale—let’s
Call her Bunny—
Was found by
Her other self:
A New York
City model
Visiting Miami
On holiday—let’s
Call that one Bettie—
Leather corsets
Knee-high stiletto
Heeled boots
Were kept out of
Those photo shoots.
Bunny believed that
The female form
Could stand on its own
And that was no lie
Considering the sometimes
Pin-up had Manhattan’s
Reigning pin-up
Queen Bettie to work with.
Potential best seller
Who could flex
Into any pose,
In many guises:
A housewife,
A vixen,
A splashing
Beach bunny,
A female
Tarzan in
Leopard skin,
A fisherwoman
On a boat reeling in
Her catch in the raw,
Decorating a small
Christmas tree with just
A Santa hat & a wink—
“Game recognises game”—
Dee Allen is an African-Italian performance poet based in Oakland, California, active on the creative writing and Spoken Word tips since the early 1990s. He’s the author of five books and 24 anthology appearances under his figurative belt so far.
