Note: There are 32 black squares, 32 white squares, and 32 pieces on the chess board at the beginning of the game! In this poem I am imagining our current polarized culture as one big game of chess.
THIRTY-TWO
we are facing off on
checkered squares, each
adjacent to its opposite,
touching sides but as far apart
as love and indifference,
as far as false is from the real.
we look to fence the other
into a desperate corner,
block all routes of escape,
to feel the checkmate thrill,
the murder of queens, humiliating
kings on the highest hill
with castles breached, bishops
forced at swordpoint to recant
the ancient creeds they preached.
to you this is just a strategy game,
something you need to get off your chest.
meanwhile our children wander aimlessly,
nowhere safe to stop and rest.