Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Nigel Finn Dec 2015
Last night I sat down in the street
And played a game of chess
With a homeless man I chanced to meet
Near my old Cambridge address,
And thoughts of victory or defeat
Mattered little (perhaps less).

The only thing I cared to gain
Was this mans company,
And I found it quite hard to contain
That it meant the world to me.
(Was it silly of me to refrain,
Since it filled my heart with glee?)

I won the game and thanked the man,
But as I walked away
I knew I didn't have a plan,
And felt the urge to stay,
But the next game had just began-
"Hello sir! Want to play?"

I wandered aimless through the night
Not feeling quite the same.
I cried, as though I thought it might
Help wash away the shame,
Untill a voice helped ease my plight;
"Would you like another game?"

A gallant knight he seemed that night;
A castle until dawn.
Whilst bishops hold religion tight
To tell us right from wrong,
And kings and queens provoke the fight
The pawn protects the pawn.
Based on a real experience, which is far too long to give the appropiate reverence to in note form.
I want that chessboard love
Protect me from an army of demons trying to get to me
I want you to be what's left of me
But I'm not sure I'm the best King
You can't be a better Queen
I think you're from heaven
I can now count to eleven
Meet me at seven
We can be together until eleven
Doing whatever chessboard pieces do in their spare time.
Molly Nixon Nov 2015
Lift you up,
hold me down.
Whatever happens,
please stay around.

Life is a chess game,
and I think I'm your pawn
I get the feeling that soon
you'll be gone.
I understand that there are sights to be seen,
but here stands the pawn that wants to be queen.

I thought you were a king, not a knight with no sword.
Now I stand as queen because I crossed the board.
Little did I know that's how you had planned it.
Now comes the suffrage of this queen's gambit.
Darren Scanlon Oct 2015
The money and the power
fit like hand in glove,
manipulating our lives
with hands soaked in blood.

Like pawns on a chessboard
we follow their commands,
cleverly manipulated
by cold corporate minds.

They reap a tainted harvest
bought with sleeping souls,
their purses bulging
as they play out their roles.

Prancing about in their
huge stately homes,
costumes adorned
with skulls and bones.

Masonic handshakes
get you into their halls,
where horrors unfold
amidst terrified calls.

And way down here
on the creaking boards,
another pawn is lost
to the bloodthirsty hoard.

Their veils are returned
as they cover the loss.

Another family bereft,
must recover the cost.


*
Written by Darren Scanlon, 2nd march 2015.
Revised 2nd October 2015.
©2015 Darren Scanlon. All rights reserved.
IDK Sep 2015
I'm your pawn
Usesless and used
But I don't seem to mind.
You're my king  
My everything
But now...
You have your Queen

I've tried Knights in shining armour
All have been quite a charmer
But I would still do anything for you
Even though you have no clue

Maybe one day
I'll make it to the end of the board
And I'll be your Queen
But then again
That only happens in my dreams
'Cause I'll always be your pawn
I'm just a tiny pawn on a big chessboard
Liam C Calhoun Aug 2015
One, of the two chairs, thrones under
Chinese twilight’s a’swirl and vacuous
come my evening’s stroll. Where once
two men would tinker, tea, and tease
atop a’board of chess, only one remains,
and that one would ‘ever cry. Tears that
only grey’d make, fears that only age
could stake, and a pecking order with
number nigh. I knew, come wail and so
entered the fireworks, flowers atop
promenades near, that the last game of
chess was just the other night. The last
cup of tea was just the other night, and
the one left behind thought about the
“night,” as we all do. When’s mine a
coming? When’s mine a’coming? Just
when is my night a’coming? So that I
may see you again, dear friend, let me
see you again.
For years I've observed the gentlemen playing chess nearly every night - nevermore. Rest easy and sleep well. I only hope that this poem adds to your immortality; written an unknown, but written, an admirer.
Sarah Khan Aug 2015
I took a seat at the chess-board
I felt tense as a tightly stretched cord
My opponent turned around to face me
And a look of great fear did grace me

Feebly, I moved up a pawn
I felt vulnerable as a fawn
He smirked, and he brought out a knight
So consumed was I with fright

That I did do something so rash
I brought out my queen, and then CRASH!
My queen was captured by the horse
My face was consumed by remorse

I thought of offering a draw
I thought of my chess-playing flaw
Then I remembered one thing
That I was still badly losing

He brought his queen to the seventh rank
He knew that he had to be frank
With a knight of his standing idly by,
My king moved up, up into the sky

He clearly stated in a voice great,
I have won, you lose, Checkmate!
My eyes welled up with salty tears
My cries against the victor’s cheers

From this day forth I dread to play
Chess does make my mood so gray
I forever ponder the mess
That I made of that game of chess.
Based on an actual game of chess, I wrote this poem to truly capture how crushing it can be to be defeated in anything!
Dreams of Sepia Jul 2015
Chessboard 's out
you move your  Queen
to face my Knight

the last blackbird
is singing in the night
& the coffee's grown cold

my pawn eats
your King & you
sigh and shake your head

& show me a postcard
from Istanbul as we
decide to take a break

the summer is dying
the telephone sings
but we don't answer
Kat Zimmerman Jul 2015
#6
late night drinking with my mother
is like playing a game of chess
                   --Except she doesn't follow the rules
one would think
if you grow something in/outside of you
love would flourish
                  --Except she doesn't follow the rules
instead her pawns play referee
as the bishop preaches the carnal sins of man
while the rook towers overhead in silent judgment voiced only in shrill, angry cries
backed by a never-can-do-wrong queen of hearts - angry, bloated, red
                                                                                          like her wine
there are no turns
there is no board

just late night drinking with my mother
who plays by no rules
a response to being ****-shamed
ICN Jun 2015
only you can understand the pain that i’ve been through.
cause you’ve been forwards and backwards as many times as I
And lying on our backs we arrive
at the gates
the gates of infinity
the recipes written down
and the past all is we’ve got
to hold on to

As I spiral into oblivion
All I can think about is you
As I drown in my eternal misery all I can remember
Is that there was a time
When I thought everything would be all right
There was a time
When the world didn’t seem like such a bad place
When I didn’t notice all the corruption
And when the eruptions commence
I shall remember your name

But as my grasp on the earth recedes please,
Please don’t forget me

As a pawn in your game
I can’t safely say
What I feel
However I renounce the position of pawn
And demand the position of queen
For no one but me understands
What’s been clearly bestowed in your hands

Hidden away in eternity
Lies the key to immortality
And as your memories begin to accumulate
Mine slowly starts to fade away

But don’t worry my dear
It’s all still very clear
Forget me not, darling
I’ll forget you, in the morning.
Next page