Roll the Dice

(A poem influenced by the themes and imagery of the movie “Jumanji”)

A board game waits in dust and gloom,
Its carvings whisper certain doom;
Two rolls of fate, the tokens glide—
And jungle madness spills inside.

A hunter stalks with rifle’s gleam,
Monkeys riot in the cream;
The house becomes a tangled lair,
Vines creep along the attic stair.

Stampedes of beasts in panic pound,
A lion roars, the floor’s unbound;
Each riddle read, each turn a snare,
Till one last roll can clear the air.

And when the cry “Jumanji!” rings,
The jungle folds its teeth and stings;
Back to the box the nightmares flee—
Until the next fool turns the key.