Love Poem: Chessboard : Oct 2021
Rachael Wood Avatar
Written by: Rachael Wood

Chessboard : Oct 2021

If it were possible to love a thing, 
I would love you.

I would hear the click of your pieces moving 
The silence of felt.
Feel the hardness of marble, the soft warmth of wood,
Watch the changing endless patterns.
Smell the patient contentedness as your dance unfolds.

I know you read the minds of many who play with you,
Their struggles and conquests, their despairs and rage, 
Their satisfactions and glee.

If you could laugh your pieces would wobble 
all day long and far into the night.

Tiles black and white and other contrasting shades.
Eight by eight, white on the right, 
Whilst  the Queen goes on her own colour.
Knights jump, castles in every corner.
For centuries your image has endured unchanged.

Your pieces wobble all day long and far into the night
If it were possible to love a thing, I would love you.

October 2021