Zumwalt Poems Online

Posts tagged ‘Game Theory’

Imperfect information

Imperfect information

You 
    and I 
          face off
with 
    battleships 
          on 
                   secret 
                   squares
                   sequentially 
taking 
    pot 
    shots 
         wherever we 
                             choose.

A 
    thin board    
                   separates 
our 
       lines    

of                 sight
A 
   thick
   carpet, 
   underneath.

This 
   is 
      a sequential game
even 
when 
I 
attack  
                out 
                of 
                turn
each 
   and 
      every move
is 
   built 
      on the
      one before.

Round 
after 
round
we proudly announce
a 
  target 
                square.

Sometimes 
  we 
                hit
Sometimes 
  we 
          m  
           i
            s 
             s
But 
     never 
fail to 
                attack.

Salvo, 
       my friend
When 
       you are most 
                relaxed
and think 
       all is 
                calm waters.

As 
long as 
there 
                are ships 
       afloat
There 
will be 
                missiles 
       launched
across 
these 
       now choppy seas.

Salvo, 
       my friend
All 
       shots at once
against 
       our better 
                judgment.

As 
long as 
there 
                are missiles 
       to launch
There 
will be 
                ships 
       targeted
aggravating 
these 
       now choppy seas.

But 
once it is 
clear

there 
is some 
       chance at 
       sinking 
       even 
       one 
       ship
               We 
       pull 
back,
bend 
               the 
               rules,
               re-
               arrange 
               our 
               positions,
       midway,

put    some 
              ships
in reserve,
deny 
       any 
              cease fire
and 
              secretly 
              fill out 
our 
battle reports.

-zumwalt (2011)

Category:

2011, I, Reader's Choice, Zumwalt

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The last party (Trivial Pursuit)

The last party (Trivial Pursuit)

She was in the room glowing
a smile on her face
she should have talked to me
or looked at me

Her boyfriend sat across from her
like a cardboard cutout
he should have been alive
or at least awake

another room awaits
autonomous
bordered by sounds
of new wave existence

friends reach out
alcohol people
a swirl of support
a backdrop of goodness

yellow light flickers
orange perfume clusters about
purple music masks the crowded voices

the little dog scurries
moves with short stubby legs
strawberries sit too long
a phantom plays monotonous precipitations

the game continues
to begin anew
the dice is the leader
the cards are finite

time wanders in a trivial pursuit
following the strewn clothes of lovers in transit
drinks stir, soaking the carpets
choices are made to apologize for chance

time beckons in a trivial pursuit
bubbles of memory
pockets of pain
seasons stacked up, circling to land

time chases in a trivial pursuit
paths are lost forever
relationships crumble from the motion
happiness dies countless deaths

time hates itself in its trivial pursuit
it shoulders the consequences of the fear and grief it spreads
it loses its identity
and is crushed by its existence

colors darken into empty shapes
taste and smell congeal
sounds form into thickening twisted knots

a dog scurries
apparitionally
alone in sympathy
it cannot understand

arms of activity
limitless ferment
dancing in madness
fleeing from feelings

this room is silent
solid and isolated
occupied at times
by present and past

Her boyfriend sat across from her
and he once had been me
He should have been happy
He should have stayed

She was in his life glowing
a blessing of emotion
He should have understood her
or at least communicated

the game never finishes
its motion won’t subside
but its pretense fools the wise
and traps all
forever

the morning rises
timidly, reluctantly
its features are grey
from the last party

— Zumwalt (1985)

Category:

1985, L, T, Zumwalt

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