I have been on this side,
And on that side,
I have seen the smooth sides of walls
And the hard sides of fences
And the sides of boxes;

I have seen sides drawn up into lines
By the people who choose sides,
Black and white pieces
Facing each other
Across the board
On the field of battle
Where there are no winners and losers.

Whose side are you going to be on
When the sides get chosen up?
I am here, and you seem to be there,
Separated by all the distance
The game dictates
In the struggle for an outcome;

Whose side will come out on top?
Something to be considered
As we make our moves
From one side to the other
Across the board
As the pieces, the parts of sides
In the irreconcilable nature of games.

These are the distances and the distinctions
And the definitions of sides,
The distinct sense of separation,
Of being in between the lines of maps
Cutting across all hope

Until the lines of the sides
Stretch and
Break