A Poem by Rees Nielsen

The Karl Rove of Checkers

My five year old grandson
is learning checkers
I try to slow him down
explain the strategy involved
Half way through the game
he reaches over and takes all his men
that I have captured
and puts them back on the board
"What's that?" I ask
"when a player wants to win,"
he says,
"and he has lost his men
he gets to put them back
on the board."
"O" I dsy,
"that's news to me.
I want to win too.
So I can put my men
back on the board?"

"No," he says,
"you don't get to."

 

 

 

 

Rees Nielsen turned 61 on November 30th.  He published short fiction and poetry in Santa Cruz, California in the mid 1970's (Sundaz, Big Moon).  He gave a reading in the Morton Marcus poetry series.  He married in 1976 and took to farming stone fruit in the San Jouquin Valley three miles south of Selma.  He did so for for over 35 years. He has retired and moved to Iowa to be close to his grandchildren. Recently he had three poems printed in SNR Review.  He has written poetry and fiction all his life.