Week Two

EQUALITY
by Edel Wignell

Life is a game of chess
with kings, queens and knights,
Bishops, rooks and pawns
standing in their places.

It's a play for ultimate power
with tactics, manoeuvres and schemes.
There's winning and losing, rules
observed, removal, completion.

At the end of the game, however,
the players - from king to pawns -
Are tossed, powerless at last,
into a box - equal.

Edel says: I have a large, heavy chess board made of wood inlay. One day, when I was struggling to move it, the idea of the chess game as a metaphor for equality zipped into my brain. I wrote and re-wrote until I was satisfied.
Edel Wignell likes playing with words and ideas. You can read some of her poetry and verse, both serious and humorous, on her website: http://www.edelwignell.com.au/ Her latest books are a picture-story, Big Eyes, Scary Voice, illustrated by Carl Pearce (Tamarind Books, UK, available fromRandom House Australia) - for ages 3- 5 years, and The White Elephant: Drama based on Asian Folk Tales (Teaching Solutions), for Years 3 to 6.

Try one of these yourself: An 'idea' poem often starts with something concrete. Think of an item: e.g. a piece of furniture (in the house), a fence (in the country), a lighthouse (by the sea). How would you describe it? What does it mean to you - or to others? Put your descriptions and meanings into a poem - blend the two together.