Prodigy
That must have been in 1944.
In the set we were using,
the paint had almost chipped off
the black pieces.
the paint had almost chipped off
the black pieces.
The white King was missing
and had to be substituted for.
and had to be substituted for.
I’m told but do not believe
that that summer I witnessed
men hung from telephone poles.
that that summer I witnessed
men hung from telephone poles.
I remember my mother
blindfolding me a lot.
She had a way of tucking my head
suddenly under her overcoat.
blindfolding me a lot.
She had a way of tucking my head
suddenly under her overcoat.
In chess, too, the professor told me,
the masters play blindfolded,
the great ones on several boards
at the same time.
the masters play blindfolded,
the great ones on several boards
at the same time.
From Charles Simic: Selected Early Poems. Copyright © 1999 by Charles Simic.