There were three of us to start with, but three would be too few
So we canvassed the departments and added one or two

From time to time we found another to take us up to six
We drank a lot of beer, the group seemed a perfect mix

The stakes were pretty low to match the salaries we made
The dealer called the game and how much the ante would be paid

The starting time was 8 and the last had was dealt at one
Until we got much older and by midnight we were done

When we started in ’71 it was a case and a half a night
When the group broke up in ’90 10 bottles was just right

The memories of those nights are clear in my old mind
No replacement for that group of pals I’m likely now to find

Now I’m the only one who’s left from the original three
And I’ve given up poker and beer and turned to poetry