The global game has many moves,
Some offer no advantage,
Leaving questions what to manage,
Zugzwang has all the bad groves.
Casting us ‘tween rock and hard place,
Like sailing Scylla and Charybdis,
Hoping a great crisis to miss,
Limiting loses via fate and grace.
Herein there are no real winners,
Loses are to sacrificial pawns,
And, the cast looks like beginners.
A crisis forgotten with players gone,
And, silence replaces siren singers,
A wonder that I tagged along.
Francis Conlon is a retired and recovering teacher. For the past 20 years, he has worked as a seasonal river ranger and boat inspector at Yampa River State Park in northwest Colorado. He has published in the local Valley Voice and in Westward Quarterly. He currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.