November 25, 2014

chess anyone?

I'm imagining someone bent over a fresh board, poised for footsteps. Despite
an early winter draft snaking upstairs, despite the almost-dinner hour and the too-small
likelihood of a passerby plucky enough to take the plunge, they are listening and patient,
ready for any stranger who might sit down. Such sturdy optimism. The invitation of it all.

I wonder if, at the heart of it, we forget to say exactly what we're looking for, anxious
that the details will cloister and confine, keep us from the thing we want. The sign I read,
narrowed as it was, stood beside an open door, and no matter what was next, there was,
at least, the certain knowledge it would include the pieces for a game to be played.
What little flag could I hold out? What batch of words would say it best?
What would I ask if asking were the only branch I'd need to build my nest?