Overnight in Ontario

Four people who had each made
A dim-witted, foolish financial choice
For low stakes were rewarded
With sudden wealth—one considerable,
Three others enough to retire.
It said so in the news. Four people
In one night, in one province of mostly
Sparsely populated Canada, got rich.
Although fortune’s odds are terrible,
Still the wheel’s payouts are multiple
And sometimes quite concentrated,
Though clumps must be coincidental.

Think how much careful design and deep
Understanding of probability, how much
Banking system built on nation states,
Armies, and transactions conducted
By fairy numbers, how much intention
It took to produce any such a coincidence.
The truly accidental fortune or misfortune
Could never be remotely so intentional,
Although also, somehow, rarely so random
As what millions designed well to be so.