Another Battle by Jaewon Chang

In the midst of a green landscape atop

checkered flooring, you are the king

of an army, soldiers and knights positioned

to your sides wearing black armour, and in front,

a foreign army mirrors your formation. The battle begins

with a soldier’s footsteps, an occasional clash of pauldrons

blemishes the silence. There is no tomb for the dead bodies,

leaving their flesh to coagulate beneath breastplates.

Admire the art, surround the king, and finally

checkmate.

Jaewon Chang is a high school junior living in the Philippines. His works have been recognized by the Scholastics Art and Writing awards on a national level. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Cleaver Magazine, Austin International Poetry Festival Youth Anthology, National Poetry Writing Month Anthology (2020), Ilanot Review, Passengers Journal, and elsewhere. During his free time, Jaewon enjoys traveling the city on foot.