On carpeted tables with
Horses and Camels,
We gather around
The table to compete.
First, with polished ankle
Of sheep and goat,
We learn how the pieces
Fall on the table
And how we are to
Send them flying
With terse jabs
Into one another.
Hit likes with likes,
Take a bone.
Hit more than one,
And control is lost.
A macabre dance
Played with out hands
And ancient dice.
Horse position
Is most desirable
For the second game.
A track of bone
Like notches
In the spine
Is our field of battle.
Throw four and see
How they fall.
Upright and smooth
Pushes your horse
Forward.
Any other pose
Is negligible.
Tossing the remains
Of grazing animals,
One goes to heaven,
One goes to hell,
We revel in our skills
Or just blind luck.
Composed 06/11/2012
Author’s note: A chronicle of my first time playing shagai (ankle bones) with my language and culture facilitators. They took no prisoners. and reveled in their victory over us poor, hapless foreigners. It was quite the day, needless to say.
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