Sally Eslinger Poet Free verse

Sweet Hours O a Chess Match

This was written first night of my recovery from complex spinal surgery to fix my paralysis, while in ICU.  Still there

.Wee Hours of a Chess Match
I have still been passing
The long, wee hours of a chess match with pain, 
Unfairly played as time does not
Permit me even a lit sight
Of the board and I captain the black
Pieces with my limited vision.  So,
Even at the very start, my queen was taken,
 With  her protecting pawn and bishop.
I am a veteran player, but
Notably cautious —  unwise for this game —
And particularly with this opponent.
Pain plays no games: striking
Arteries while simultaneously 
Poisoning the brain; it strikes
At the soul —hoping the soul will sink with
Christ at the call.  Plus, pain uses time and
Strategies to outlast,
To which nearly unending throes of agony
Will testify.  Two more of my pawns and a rook are  taken.
Pain sizes up to win.  
My king captures a lost  bishop.
Pain calls me lucky.  Observers  call me 
Too drowsy and my anger sharpens!

Have they no idea of the reserves needed
To calm such a battle into measured breaths?
They claim, See we saw you entranced!  
No, but no! I shout.  It is a supreme effort
To pacify the nerves while picks stay at
Work to unsettle them.  

Another of my rooks is taken.
This is no game.  The taken are slaughtered.
There are no  negotiations.
The bishops are wanderers before
Even learning for whom their prayers are meant.
Each side should have a multi-directional Angel,
Due more squares than a  pawn.  Knights fighting for 
Pain need to know what that means, so could have
A square cut from their moves.  Pawns serving pain
May only run away, take no prisoners, and 
Just  fall over dead when passed.
”Resilience” is a password for  life,  not pain.
Fingerprints everywhere, coat the pieces — hopeful 
Of defeating pain.  Knights do little anymore, 
While on earth 
As in heaven,burdens are shared and halved :
The war against pain soon, soon...to ease.
Relieve.  Believe.

**********.         **********.         **********.         **********
(C) sally Young Eslinger 10/1/2020

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Joe Sandler October 8, 2020 at 12:47 AM Hello Sally.Am praying for a positive outcome. Can relate to a certain extent.My wife has cancer and has become Paralyzed. Now in hospice,although still holding her own. Please keep in touch with progress reports.