don't spill the beans

Find yourself waking,
and the trap of consciousness snaps --
Still weary of subject and object,
still in your work clothes.

Remember that kids' board game,
"Don't Spill the Beans?"
By Hasbro or some such.
A precarious balance,
to which beans are added one or two at a time, by turns.
You need to get your point across,
but you really can't say it.

-- whoever spills is the loser. That's you.

If you gag yourself with sheets and keep
the shades down,
You won't have to think in words, and no one
the wiser.

You need good old-school poker,
a game of unrevealing ways.
Intimacy is not what we're moving toward, here.
Though I don't know how long we can stand
at the edge of the gulf, without
tipping a hand.
Pray, and don't think --
don't anticipate, and for God's sake
don't imagine what you'd say
if anyone asked.