The Game

A board layed upon a stool,
They face each other over it.
Even between friends, tension.
Cowboys and Indians
A Canadian motif to a game of the world.
Well, a north American motif
An unwitting metaphor for part of Canadian history
But no Mountie.

The game proceeds
a contest of wills between cats
Lions or tigers
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing

POUNCE!

And a piece is lost
And you are riveted

“Check” is called
and suddenly one player fights for his life
he seeks a way out
like a general he must extricate his army

But what can he do
Who must he sacrifice

The other moves in…

May 24, 2003
Sherwood Park, Alta.

I wrote this while watching a game of chess at a barbecue in this rural suburb of Edmonton, in a house that is better described as a lodge.