Richard Krech: "Playing the Game" from S.A. Griffin’s “POETRY BOMB” 2010

The Great Game

they called it
in the last years of the 19th Century.


The “Fin de Siecle” time
when the sun never set
on the British Empire,
the fierce Waziristan of Rudyard Kipling
at the center of the “Game”
the center
of the struggle between
Russia and Great Britain.

Lord Durand drew a line
along a map delineating
British India from Afghanistan.

Drew a line thru tribal areas
controlled by the tribes and jirgas
since Alexander.

Drew a line oblivious to the blood
and flag and language ties
on either side
of his scribbles on a map
in London
half a world away.

Mortimer Durand’s arbitrary line
created the no-man’s land
between the tectonic plates
of Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent
where al Qaeda - the base - still thrives.

Irredentist warriors
from the 10th Century
nurtured by the arrogance
of game players
sipping tea in the parlor
in honor of the Queen

10/30/08
Richard Krech