Kwik Trip

I only play the lottery
            When the pot grows huge.
Pretending Death's my number,
            I' m always glad to lose.
For months and months,
            I never play at all.
Red, flashing letters
            Screaming, "Powerball!"
Go unheeded
            As I pay for milk and gas.
I smile, pocket my change,
            And let it pass.
But sometimes, when I see
            The odds are growing,
I buy a dollar ticket
            For a lark, well knowing
It's not my number yet,
            Not this week's drawing.
I take a chance, I lose,
            And I avoid the coffin.
But now I see the prizes mounting
            Much more often.
This never-winning winning
            Has a downside too;
You feel the terrible odds one day
            Will get to you.
The Kwik Trip draws me now
            When I don't need gas.
Perhaps someone has won it all,
            But no one has.
I face the Powerball machine.
            I dance a nervous jig.
I buy ten dollars' worth of tabs
            And pray to hit it big.