Watching existence as a game of chess,
Where love, hate, smile, tear, insult and caress
Hold us by turns in various forms of check;
Some sort of yoke is worn by every neck.
Kings, queens and knights, exalted castles see,
Undone by pawns and powers of base degree.
Positions gained at a tremendous cost,
By one false move may be forever lost;
Each studied movement, each strategic course,
Is shaped by contact with opposing force,