Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. (Carl Gustav Jung) THE PAWN A young man props open the door to his screened-in porch as a robin, wild, wings flapping, dives into the wire mesh walls. The man gestures toward the exit and mutters about how creatures, two-legged or flying, refuse to be rescued. He locks the door to his house and leaves the screen door open, then crosses the street to learn the tricks of chess from an elderly neighbor. The older man offers him a seat at his kitchen table, where a set of yellowed-white and chipped-black game pieces wait on a well-worn board. The master’s game is sharp. As he plays, he speaks of his sons and daughters and their plans for him to move to a nursing home, the place the old man calls incontinence hell. He describes shirts with elbows bared, gifts from his deceased wife, removed without his permission, She lives in those shreds. The young man tries to follow both his teacher’s stories and his advice about the game until the old man shakes his head. Because you are learning I will let you try that move again. But the student sees only worn-black and dull-white wood, perfect squares with impenetrable borders. Checkmate. The old man shows no sign of triumph. He resets the board. The young man nods, silent, wondering if the robin found passage—or not. pic made from public domain drawing, cut paper, and pastels poem previously published in For a Better World 2014
Posts Tagged ‘self-understand’
The Pawn, a Poem
Posted in inspiration, tagged Carl Jung quote, chess, choosing not to judge, poem, robins, self-awareness, self-understand on January 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »