Gameful

You think you know the rules
Conventions
Handed down from high
Neatly sectioned, numbered
Sanctioned
Endlessly debated (on the strip, and off)

I've simply layered on
My own augmented reality
A game beneath the game

Hidden in this notebook is my
Secret score
Coded annotations --
You puzzle when I pump my arm in triumph
Having lost the touch?
I'm not trying to gull the ref*,
I'm gleefully amassing points
Epic wins that no one else can see, or seeing
Recognize the import of
The covert action-of-the-day
Snuck into a bout:
  Prime riposte
  Coupe into six
  Glissade
  Crossover flèche

Ingenious &
Unnecessary obstacles
Clandestine quests
Challenge me to level up in
perseverance
patience
courtesy
Expand my repertoire
Try new things that certainly will fail
The first few hundred times

You want to play? Leap down the rabbit hole
Petition for your first assignment here...

*o.k.—SOMETIMES I’m trying to gull the ref. You know, just to see if it works.