a game of chess
while a skylark sings it’s song –
I lost the game
© Chèvrefeuille
The Chess Game (Knut Ekwall – )
A lovely poem. These words bring to mind my first love. I was completely smitten by him. He was all I could have wished in a boyfriend; intelligent, romantic, handsome and a student of karate.
He taught me to how play chess. We’d play for hours, even when we were apart we’d continue our game over the telephone. He invariably won but over time I began to get better.
The winter was rigid as the winters in Alaska usually are but we never felt the cold that year. However, as with all things, even our romance changed. It was in the spring with the first ice break-up. I remember the song birds had begun to return from the south. However we began to drift apart. Probably because of all the hours of study we had to buckled under for spring exams, or so I told myself.
One evening I went to the park with one of my friends and saw him sitting at a table with the chess board set-up, a game half over. I hadn’t seen him in almost two weeks and I was just about to call out, to say hello, when he picked up his adversary’s hand and kissed it, staring into her eyes. He had a new chess partner.
Ah … how sweetly the birds sing their songs in spring.
over a chess board
the winter passed warmly
until spring break-up
© G.s.k. ‘16
(249 words)
Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille April 27th 2016 – a game of chess
The prompt is to write a haibun following these instructions:
1: You have to place the haibun in spring
2. The given haiku has to be used (as an inspiration or as the concluding haiku of the haibun)
3. A maximum of 250 words (including the haiku)
Walking With Bastet in Prose 
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Bittersweet endings but still the lingering pleasures in reflection of life, young/first love, shared interests.
I think you’ve explored the prompt well – and certainly have conveyed a sense of the importance and feelings here, and your Haiku is a wonderful compliment to our host’s.
Lovely 🙂
Thank you very much Pat … I was going to pass on this haibun – but at the last moment I decided to share how I learnt chess … I’m pleased you liked the story. 🙂
It is a particularly personal story, but clearly, there is a wisdom and understanding that speaks through your words which renders this whole haibun in an exemplary fashion – universal appeal and understanding 🙂
Thanks Pat .. much appreciated.