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Skumpfsklub
Apr 21, 2008 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

The Battle of Squeamish Hill

From where I sat, the scene was rather bland:

Two portly men maneuvered wooden blocks

Between recesses spent in friendly talks

Deciding how the rulebook should be scanned.

 

Agreement easy reached in calm debate

To give the Quisling spots a meaning plain

Insinuated flaws for private gain--

Translated in the play to dismal fate

 

As dice rebelled by plodding to the sums

The two agreed were needed for effects

'According with the truth the rule reflects.'

They mashed the nasty cubes against their thumbs

 

And rolled again and shoveled painted wood:

"My grenadiers will scramble up those cliffs."

(The tokens took their place among the glyphs

To face opposing tokens where they stood).

 

"A few will die, the rest will run away.

My line right there is really very strong.

But go ahead and try: I might be wrong,

And if I am, the battle goes your way."

 

"I must," the cool reply, "It's now or nought."

He rolled the dice.  "I only managed eight.

Your plucky lads again have dodged their fate.

Now take your roll and let's see what you got."

 

The fall of dice implied a grim defeat.

"Debacle!" came a cry.  "La Garde recule!"

(Exactly one whole inch, as per the rule).

"I lose the battle.  Bugler, sound retreat."

 

The struggle in the parlor stayed in hand,

Though close to detonation once or twice--

And loud the cursing at Bellona's dice!

The mixed results were far from what was planned.

 


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gumpymonkey

18 years ago

Bellona's Boredom

Bellona's bored sword points confident in direction along a random horizon. Forward for consequence, unknown future regrets, we rain unlucky over the hill. Evolution flung lasso loop. Monkey wills torpedo poop. War weapons stir shit soup. All die six by six. Sun Tzu's table commits. Across invented enemy sits. Ape King blood fiends for a chance of chance in the romance blood dance.
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Skumpfsklub

18 years ago

(Shrugging)

Let's run this back up to the top of the stream and see if the contrast and comparison of Gumpymonkey's poetic review with my poem sparks comment. Maybe it'll work.
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gumpymonkey

18 years ago

we could try

"calling them out" you know what I mean? for instance... we could claim that humans are generally incapable of understanding or enjoying work that isn't silky and fluffy smooth down the throat romantic and color reference driven. or work so compound cutely dark that we almost smile at its "evilness." or work that makes us blush over lost love textured eroticism angst. (well I never!) that many times lay before them a work that strives to teach, yet has no students willing to fail today for tomorrows grasp. no students willing to poke the mysterious cadaver of who knows. or we could just call out in arrogant bellows that the world is lazy. and we are sorry for that. -Dan(do you think that con worked?)iel
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orgami

16 years 11 months ago

I would have missed this without your Critique

so now Im curious as to the writ of the man oh ancient is he by me of twenty year of our lords Oh says I a game perchane of rules and thought a poem crafted and not dare say I the chess that breezes in Pigeon Park do plod This is slick work disquised as Poetry (But YES poetry it is in fine form!!!) so My stars go up like a flag on signal hill the battle over Is that nervous sweat on silk lapel? Enjoyed this great poem muchly and GumpyMonkeys musings !!
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Skumpfsklub

16 years 11 months ago

Yup, it's about the nature of games--and games players

A matter not unfamiliar to me. The poem itself depicts what a well-designed game SHOULD produce: a non-lethal simulation of a problem domain drawn from the real world. (i.e., the game, won or lost, is without destructive real consequences, but has some useful real consequences) The players in such a game are caught up in the problem set abstracted, quantized and regulated by the designer; the players enter the role and exercise judgment and decision skills in 'as-if' mode. But they are reminded periodically (by the clinking of the ice cubes and girlish laughter from the wives in the kitchen) that it is a game--they don't get too carried away. The vanquished will do no falling on swords; and Mr. Green usually forgets to bring his sword, anyway. So, in some ways, this is less a poem than it is a glittery image for me to tack to the wall, as a reminder of my true aim in games design. That is a pursuit of half a century for me so far, and I think I'm getting fair grasp of it. I've avoided the approach from the purely mathematical side--which, while valid, produces games that will not be played . . . oh, wait, no, I won't go further with that discourse. I've learnt that lesson, too, that 'games design' is not a widely distributed interest.
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Skumpfsklub

16 years 11 months ago

Look again, you bloody Philistines!

Okay, so this isn't REALLY a comment, but is only a device to refresh this poem's chances of avoiding complete ignominy. It's used here why? Does this poem actually MEAN something to me? Well, du-uh! I might be kinda cold, but I'm not UTTERLY indifferent to how my work is received in the world. So I deviate from practice, 'playing favorites' for this poem's sake. Tsk! Shame on me. I don't wanna BE a poet. I just wanna write a poem now and then, with a degree of skill that doesn't embarrass me. I'm unwilling to commit to The Way of the Poet, but I'm willing to show up on the mall, and to take a few whacks at the palls, say, once in the fortnight? maybe twice? Ah, never mind. I'm just dancin' on the keyboard, tryin' to make this LOOK like a comment.
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Skumpfsklub

16 years 10 months ago

Announcing a new hobby:

I think what I'll do now is take a look at the tracker, and when I see words used in the titles on the first page that are in the title of one of my poems, I'll toss my poem back into the tracker with a faux comment. Kinda like 'tag matching,' but I haven't a way to automate that. Lucky for you, there are words I don't use in the titles of my work. No angels, sunsets, or other saccharine crap like that. If you see a poem with the word 'gherkin' in its title, it's probably mine. Perry
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orgami

16 years 10 months ago

I recently have falling into the habit while tired and ..

trying to keep up with the twenty four hour qouta of actually "borrowing" the first line or symbolism or title word for my heading from a poem line or comment throughout Neoland here was shocked when I had to look back and see that indeed two days before I had written a recent peice I had indeed borrowed some imagery for my work then I thought about songwriters who make songs and then get sued because it is identical though they swear at the time it was not intended mankind trying to make the better mousetrap its like walking with people who limp Nine times out of ten you will develop a limp or designing a boardgame that will be original enough to not infinge on copywrite Good Luck! so I just give thanks to those I borrow from and try to keep awake and in my lane from here on and Gherkins can be very sweet at times on the right combo of aged cheese margarine spread pepper and sea salt some mayo and thinly sliced Gherkins im certian we developed games to keep the military mind sharp like the sword or cave stone or club Shillalea the Irish call it Fun games are fun and someone didnt write the right rules becuase America is suffering the people are anyway greed will bleed but we are pouring millions and billions into fighting and getting young people killed in due course "over there" we are going to have to go back to the castle moat ideology revise secret societies i could go on and on Would be interesting to have a sit down talk with you ha ha all in due time great poem still I find this one!!!
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Skumpfsklub

16 years 10 months ago

Wormy, we hardly knew you.

Thanks, Orgami. I'm still gonna have to thrust it back onto the tracker. The piece just SCREAMS for nuts-and-bolts critique, thematic analysis, and all that other toplofty shit---but it ain't gettin' that kind of attention. So I gotta toss it back, until it gets that. Or, in fisherman's talk: let's drown another worm on this hook. Perry
themoonman

themoonman

16 years 3 months ago

Perry...

You're back... and in Perry style, good to see you. This poem... well, I enjoyed it every time I've read it, and I've read it several times as I'm sure many have. The form is tight, has an interesting story, after all, we all or most of us, enjoy a good and challenging game. My neighbor and I get together for him to beat me regularly at chess, he enjoys it much more than I... but I do beat him in card games, which I enjoy much more than him. There has been many a battle with games and I can see why you are so partial to this poem, and I hope some others will read it and reply tonight. good to see you Richard
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Skumpfsklub

16 years 3 months ago

Thanks, Richard

You add an interesting thought, that I had not included in the forethought/planning of this one. Yeah, there is that problem of agreeing on a particular game; and your solution of alternately playing the other's game is the neighborly approach---and so obvious one has to wonder why so few people play games at all. (Um, that last sentence has a funny sound to it and may mislead a drive-by reading, given the number of poems I've seen that use 'games' as the label for a kind of interpersonal havoc-wreaking. But I mean here those games that are played toward development of some set of skills as a common purpose). Most importantly, you comment supplies me with a defensible basis for another comment, carefully timed to give additional exposure to my favorite orphan. Perry
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Skumpfsklub

16 years 3 months ago

Faux Comment

Take three ordinary dice. Roll 'em. Take the sum of the ones, twos and threes that come up, ignoring the fours, fives and sixes. Study on that a while. You will notice that the range of values runs from 0 . . 9. The average will be 3. The distribution of values will NOT be a bell shaped curve when charted. This looked like a useful curve to me, for resolving beer-and-skittles tabletop brawls using M&Ms (or actual Skittles) as the counters representing force. (My younger son and I sometimes play such games (on ad hoc battlefields), and, naturally, we eat the fallen).
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orgami

16 years 3 months ago

John Steinbeck

throughout his writing he was so careful on the observational accounting of character notation the passage reminds me of some of his writing and I remember "Travels with Charley" Emily Carr was a writer also in vivid detail I can remember card games early on and then Monopoly the devious Ouija and others games are ancient ritual and great fun