The Game of Kings

Lay down the board, and set up the pieces.
Anticipate scenarios; obfuscate openings.
Be obdurate; obstructionist… obstaclize. Is it chance?
There are no dice to roll, no spinners to whirl, no cards to flip.
It’s all in your head… or is it?

Genteel aggression, with each piece
Having its role, inherent.
Sacrifice. Is there a choice?
Carried off the board for the
Greater good. Victim of a feint, a defensive
Ploy, or an outright attack.

What matters to you is results.
Annihilation, or a surgical strike, and a quick
Concession, or a reluctant draw. On the other side,
Your opponent questions, “What if …?”
As you shake. Pieces are returned, if
Not peace. Decide; your hand is already moving.
Make the unknown happen.

Thought….
Move….
Thoughghght….
Moooove…
Thght….
Mve…

Enough, poker face. I’ll show my hand;
I’m a king and a pawn, on this board we call land.

One Grandmaster controls my fate. The paradox of
Giving up ‘freedom’, but gaining much more.
Live by the rules. No choices but one; life or death.
Pieces taken. Pawns like Tommies in Flanders fields.
Expendable. A war of attrition. And the King?
Limited mobility, must be protected.
His Queen roams the battlefield like a Sherman.
I am all of them and more, but need to know where I’m placed.

Then there are those who reject the Grandmaster; feeling their
Role is sufficient. Living from square to square – no strategy.
Or thinking the players have abandoned the board, left
The room, gone to have lunch, forgetting to return.
There are other things to do.
Maybe it’s better to compete on level playing fields: chance,
Luck, randomness, and surprise; they rule play.
Backgammon, Monopoly, Blackjack, Scrabble.
Some skill, to be sure, but not quite enough.

I’ll rest here awhile on this square,
Seeking a common purpose between
My role and His thought.
Sharing a strategy, and ready for
Action. Aware of those around me: castles, rooks, bishops.
Each able to move in preordained fashion for
The common good, but also, like me,
Waiting.