Two things i never learned
two things i never learned
i don’t know why i never learned
to play chess,
that enigmatic battle
on what looks like
a checkerboard,
the preoccupation of the wise,
the strategically minded.
all those black and white pieces
charging at each other, clashing together
in predictably unpredictable ways,
like teeth coming together
to chew the lunch of tactic,
of scheme and heroic valor,
the winner always gleaming white,
the loser always blackened
with age and defeat
and loss of virtue.
and
i don’t know why i never learned
to play piano,
keys mysteriously making sounds
that combine into chords
that ring true in the unseen music
of my soul.
all those black and white keys
coming together like black licorice smiles
on white gleaming teeth
in ever-youthful faces
hidden behind masks
of playful emotion,
chewing the dinner of light and shadow,
of knowing and unknowing,
learning and not learning,
winning and losing,
in the minor key closets
of my aging heart.
