CHESS

 

I will not be a pawn in your game

Kings and queens are veiled in secrecy

Never the face you see glued to the box.

Behind the scenes, where pawns never tread,

Here, the sleight of hand is played;

The advertised venue, a smokescreen

 

Where is the pawn that once was her?

So hard to tell – they all look just the same.

Sacrificed, like so many, for the sake of the king-

whoever that king might be.

 

Heaven forbid that you allow a pawn to move more than one space.

You may only go one step forward or one step back.

With every single step their lives are on the line

Tossed to the side, the casualties of war.

 

We will sing songs about them once a year.

And hold them up as heroes, which they are,

Although the king and queen may never know their names.

 

I am moving off the grid before you sacrifice me,

The pawns are not where they’re supposed to be!

You will not know the prisoners you are

Until you attempt to live free.

Bishops, knights. All but the King, are just as screwed,

until they realize, as if they ever will,

that they are only better-dressed cannon fodder.

 

Here’s what you do!

You go to school

You live your little life and worship rules.

For this is how the game is played.

Knights, you may go 2 steps forward then

You will be shunted sideways

Them’s the rules.

But  who says so?

The makers of the game!

No, not the cheesy photo on the front of the box

who all the poor pawns voted in!

 

Step off the board with me…

It is the hands that move the King

that win the game.

 

WendyAnneDarling – Copyright 2019