On the board,
notwithstanding any artful horse canter,
The pawn soldiers forth alone,
And stands in the field bravely,
Waiting for reinforcement .
The knights will probably clip–clop forth
Into the fray next, but they are chimeras,
Enhanced .

Gray serf on the unplowed turf .

The court is aft, flanked by clergy,
horses, and crenellated towers .
The other side, the kingdom White
bounced out first, assured .
On this war grid of squared plot
the armies lock
regimented.
The moves are studied,
the exchanges ;  bloody :
sacrifice for the Crown .

On the board, decorum and pageantry
define the choreographed combat,
the claret Pollockian marks,
the weaponry arcs—
the gruesome art of failed diplomacy .

The white scepter is broken when
the Black King with his pawn
arrives on foot standing equal
on this crimson field
for checkmate .

*[ WSB ]_.