Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Game of Chess


This is a poem I had written a long while back...I was going through some of my stuff when I found it again. I spruced it up a bit and edited some parts. So here's the only piece of halfway decent poetry I ever wrote :)  Comments welcome!



THE GAME OF CHESS

Twilight in the garden
All quiet in the house
The child is in the cradle
The mother sleeps without

The father’s in the army
He has gone to fight the war
Bring glory to his country
Will he see the coming hour?

The shadows in the nursery
Lengthen with coming night
A chess set in the corner
Gleams quietly with a light

The Ebony and the Ivory
They creak and wake and groan
The chessmen tall and noble
Or short in humble tone

All twist and turn and wake
To battle once again
Upon the checked battlefield
As yet without a stain

It had been there for years and years
And many a battle won
Some by Black and some by White
And then to start anon

This evening too they hoped to win
Each side getting in line
And face each other with brave hearts
And the will to triumph alive

So the battle ground was set
And so the battle lines had met
There they all stood brave and true
How many will remain?

The White as self proclaimed masters
Moved their soldiers first
And a pawn was sent to show
That the White have played their turn

The Black seeing the approaching White
Sent their own soldiers through
And a pawn was sent up front
To stem the coming foe

The names of pawns are not to be noted
They are too small and frail
They are on foot, the weakest links
The easiest to replace

Say nothing of their wives at home
Their children crying out their name
“Papa! Papa! Please return
Why must you play this game?”

“He’ll soon be home, don’t worry child”
Mama soothes the child and says
Little knowing he is out to die
The leaders to be safe

Don’t worry children, and don’t cry
This is but a game
Which will be played many times over
On yet another day

The same men will rise once more
To fall once again
The same story will be retold
In many different ways

For it’s not, you see, like real life
Where if once gone is gone
And for each new game we have to find
New deaths to depend on

For the game of chess, you see
Is but a crude imitation
The real battle still goes on
In the hearts of each generation

This battle like all battles
Is among different kinds
Who though same of heart and mind
All strive to kill their kind

For some excuse as colour
Caste, creed, religion
With god as their creator
They slay all god’s children

The same you see is in this game
Where White is fighting Black
And so they’ll fight in imitation
While sense is what men lack

But let us continue our story
Of the brave battle won
By White or Black- Do we really care?
Oh! When will mankind learn?

21 comments:

Rumbling Ranter said...

*speechless*
*standing ovation*
*encore*
Omg. This was amazing! How did you learn to write like this?
Who could have thought about relating chess to war? Black and white- the difference between the countries fighting the war, be it caste or creed or religion.
And the misery of the soldiers who die and nobody even cares.
The stupidity and uselessness of it all!
This is really good Pragya. YOU SHOULD REALLY BECOME A WRITER!

Teller of Tales said...

THNX!!!! such exuberance!!!! FEELS GREAT!! =D Now all I need is to find a publisher...........

Vds_Clarity_Denied said...

yes u shud find a publisher!!!
well, im running out of good adjectives here...lol...
i luv how ur sarcasm hits one like a slap on the face... its so true to the meaning...nothing is fake, no sign of pretence, no where does it seem as tho ur trying too hard... wonderful! how long did it take u to write it?

Teller of Tales said...

AWW! I'm blushing!!!! where's all this flattery aimed at I wonder???..... :P
But Thnx!...makes me feel really good!!! YAY!! I'm a sucker for compliments ;D
I'd written it in class 12, when i was supposed to be studying..heh... just a moment of inspiration-from Physics..can u believe it??!!!...and I was like 'I Got to write this!!' and I wrote most of it in one go....then I edited it many times after that!! =D

Blossom said...

Wow! The poem is fantastic.I agree with the others. You should find a publisher. Good job!

http://www.blossom-toefl.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I love this poem! I think it's amazing and you should definitely have this poem published.

hkjhjkhv said...

complicated thoughts but i liked it

http://chiranjittravel.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Your poem makes me wanna burst.. I hate war very much. i mean, it's just so stupid.. people die for glory, to fight for their country, or so they say, when actually no one remembers them after death - only their loved ones, berieved, and the rulers were almost the only ones who benefit from their precious sacrifice. it's just so unfair, they should be the one fighting for the people, not the people fighting for them. it's pointless.

you did a great poem. i love it

Teller of Tales said...

THNX A LOT!!!!!!!!!! =D

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for stopping by and visiting Logical Nonsense...It's funny that you should mention "White & Nerdy", since I posted that video at this link: http://nh92.blogspot.com/2008/09/boycott-september.html.

Nice blog!

Unknown said...

hey progga man .............its damn good !!!!!!!!!! i din knoe u could right such good poetry .......wow !!!!!!!yeah plz do go and find a publisher !!!!! ......i have no words for it

rachita said...

Pikuuuu!!!
WOW!its got immense depth and passion to it...seriously!war is something well brought about thru poems, and u've done exactly that!
it ain't abstract, very well written, brings out the angst of war!although its not rhyming everywhere, it is modern poetry and i love it:)

Teller of Tales said...

yeah..sorry abt d rhyming..hvnt quite reached dat level yet, but i'll take d excuse of modern poetry!! :P
thnx =)

Carrie Amie said...

Truly amazing, you have a great talent! Keep it up :)

Anonymous said...

great.. you are one hell of a writer.

:p

Michael said...

That was deeply compelling. Bravo, bravo!

Ahhh... and a very wise, very well-known, Mark Twain quote. That makes you doubly special. Consider yourself followed! *dun dun dun*

Seriously, though. Great style and a great theme. Very professional book reviews too. :D

Teller of Tales said...

thnx! yeah i luv dis quote as well!!!! =D

Mr. Nall said...

Very interesting poem. Excellent cross-over between race, war and triviality. Liked the rhyme scheme too, shame it breaks down on the 8th stanza, but otherwise very good.

Best,

AJN
http://adamjamesnall.blogspot.com/

Rajasee Ray said...

mine was a spruced up version of ancient writing as well :)

some whoppers of lines in there - loved the imagery and effortless rhyme!

glad you have a blog - yay!

Tatum Reid said...

Very Nice!!
So many aspects that ties in-it's mind boggeling!
Seems rhyming comes effortless! Well done!!

http://www.tatumreid.blogspot.com

Tikno said...

Very nice poem with the deep value in it.