Playing Games

My little daughter has suddenly
taken a fancy to board games --
ludo, draughts, snakes and ladders.
And she insists we play with her.

The rules are beyond
her comprehension though:
she just loves rattling the dice
and moving the counters
any which way –

she's only playing at playing.
And we play along,
charmed by the absurdity
of it all,

And secure too
in the knowledge
that before long
she'll have the rules
at her fingertips

and we'll happily
concede defeat
to her freshly acquired
Expertise.

There's a lesson here,
for everything's a
game, as they say --
war, love, work, politics,
what have you,

And from playing
at playing a game
to actually playing it
one makes a full
quantum leap; it's what
we call growing up:

Oh if only we could be
reasonably sure
all the world's leaders
one day will
stop playing at playing
the game of democracy --
and start playing it!

Kaiser Haq

Art Work By Pablo