The Chess Pocket Manual (pub. 1896)

The drab brown cover wears a
Small splotch of deeper brown,
Marring the faded symbol
Of a brick red knight.
The jaundiced pages smell of
Someone's tobacco-laden pocket
Worn a hundred years ago.
Painfully, it crackles when opened,
And must still be groaning
From the mysterious journey it took
To get into these young hands.

Paul Apgar :: Mar '98