The old concrete chess table at the beach
The timer ticks before the tock
The old man makes his move and says
" Son, I can tell you've seen a lot, your turn"
I said, " I know the rules" as I took out his second bishop. He went to lift his last knight while mumbling with still lips "I must have missed something". I realized he was no longer referring to the pieces on the board, so I hit the clock and put a stop to the shake in his hand by grabbing it and saying "we should have played checkers instead". He looked up at me with his aging eyes, both sitting in a sack of skin that could only be resting on knowledge, and whispered, " Now, you finally get it". As I let go of his hand, he placed down the knight to put me in checkmate, then brought up his voice now filled with joy and continued " I am on my way out friend, always remember that it is the same board with different pieces, you just don't have to think as much".
"It has never been, nor never will be, for popularity while we are alive, more than remembrance for when we have passed."
Michael S. McClafferty
1973 -