LID

LID

Let me
shut the lid

the fallen, the victorious
even the defeated
are right as rain

whilst
there is no sang-froid
with our
two generals

in this game
of question marks
and exclamations

a different kind of
battle is determined
by the opening move

only now
ironically as
my eyes fail me
do I start
to see the patterns

too late
for that old crazy
dream of mastery

my default settings
not exactly in tune
with the
exponential dimensions
and configurations

of this impossibly calculated
not
a hint of gray eight by

eight square exact white
black world

wherein
you have the power
to wipe
the floor with me blindfold.