JONATHAN ZENG

Sonnet on Chess

Nightfall, the town’s ecstatic nature fades; darkness is now the warden of this land. A spear of light unknown, unseen, evades. Your origin? A war needing command.

The light of peace dims as leaders approach. The stage is set with board, pieces, time, a hand of engagement that some reproach: we commence an age-old conflict in mime.

A duel of unparalleled skill and wit, where strategies prevail over a wing; but if the kingdom crumbles you can quit and prove yourself by slaying the king – while deep in thought two tacticians reveal the calm of gods above a troubled field.