To my niece, Payton, on the day after her tenth birthday

Uno is more than a game, but also the number

Of masters in any one room.

And who is that chief? It isn't the plumber,

The salesman, lawyer or groom.

The leader's the one who can play green on blue,

Make fully grown adults do what she says to do,

Stop play in the middle when she tells them to

And send them out questing for copies of Clue.

So, now that you're ten and I'm ten years an uncle

I've learned a few things in the process

Like advice is for nephews, the kind that you dunkle,

But with nieces, just do as she says.

So as you command, I'm trying to do.

I'll play the darn games, maybe hug strangers, too,

Take a shot at the piñata, sad but it's true,

And harmonize on "Happy Birthday to You."

UNO, n. Crazy Eights redesigned for crazy tens.