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Showing posts with label pawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pawn. Show all posts

Friday, July 09, 2010

The Pawn's Fallacy [Today's News Poem, July 9, 2010]

The Pawn's Fallacy [Today's News Poem, July 9, 2010]

Defined by my pace on the map, I'm advancing
On tiles and my options are lined up opposing
My quest for the finish. I'm destined for something
Terrific: promotion; where origins matter
Far less than the power obtained. As a monarch,
My freedom to move by my whim on the chessboard
Is limited only by king and by checkmate
That comes with a flourish. And somewhere transcending
This board I'll recover my status—exceed it
Perhaps as a king on my chessboard. I'll gather
My forces together and crush my opponents
Forever in cycles of rebirth, ascending
The ranks to the top as the king of creation.

“With the exception of the redheaded Anna Chapman, who will doubtless soon be offered a talk show and a column on a British tabloid, they do look like a dull lot compared to their Soviet forerunners - who were very good indeed at their jobs. But they have all been offered a Moscow flat and a $2,000 (£1,327) state pension - the sort of riches plenty of Muscovites can still only dream of... But although the spies will not be paupers, their lives may not be easy.”
– Alexander Anichkin, BBC, 19:07 GMT, Friday, 9 July 2010 20:07 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10581574.stm



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Friday, May 14, 2010

The King is a Pawn [Today's News Poem, May 14, 2010]

The King is a Pawn [Today's News Poem, May 14, 2010]

The endgame approaches. The pieces are playing
On boards that they own, for the pawn is the monarch
When fending a square from attackers: its battles,
Predestined by mystery masters. Their plans are
Inscrutable: patient conspiracies playing
The King as the puppet. Invisible forces
Resolve what's uncertain for chessmen: they struggle
As gambits unfold and the game's been determined.

“At least eight people were killed and up to 121 injured during a day of violence between anti-government protesters and troops which drew months of stand-off in Bangkok closer to an endgame.”
– The Times Online, May 14, 2010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7126802.ece

“A chaotic day of deadly street violence in southern Kyrgyzstan ended Friday with the interim government retaking control of administration buildings in two southern cities.”
– Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, May 14, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/world/asia/15kyrgyz.html

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