This will probably be my last Go-themed poem I write for awhile, but it certainly does do a good job at describing my experiences with Go since last June. Truthfully, I had played before that. I think it was around 2006 or so that I first discovered Go because of Hikaru no Go (totally unoriginal claim, I know). But because of the bad rating system and my inability to get help on the Yahoo server, I quit. Then when I picked it up again in June I had the rare luck of discovering both the AGA and KGS and it just took off from there.

I'll admit there were some growing pains, but I think I've reached the point where I can appreciate the game more for its beauty than for the sole sake of winning. And a good part of that is thanks to this forum for making me feel at home.

P.S. -I hope I didn't bore you with this long Foreword.

Memories On The Goban

It seems like only yesterday I lifted my first stone
So many times this gauntlet has been thrown
I've grown and I've shown my growth as the months passed
I've often felt gassed when the losses pile up
And often times they threaten to swallow me up
It would've been so easy to give into the shallow fears
That like spears drove straight into my heart
But I refused to crumble and fall apart and so here I stand
It's with the voice of a lion that I command my army
This long road has led me to meet so many people
And the groundwork has been made for a future on the grid
Yet then I reach a point where I want to give in
It seems like I lack the desire within to withstand
The demands the goban places on my soul
Yet somewhere this fire keeps burning, dragging me back
When so many times I'm ready to set the board ablaze
Trapped in this insane craze I can't escape the maze
It's my unrequited love that I still adore day in and day out
Even when it seems like Shusaku abhors me

There have been some epic battles in my past
And I'm astounded some of the wins came so fast
It's been a blast enjoyin' the game with the rest of the cast
Yet I still wonder when I'll play my last stone

It seems like only yesterday when the pain kept me awake at night
With a feeling that I would never quite be good enough
Yet somehow I still kept tough despite the rough times
And like my rhymes I keep throwin' my talent down
And I won't frown when I lose like before
I'll smile and say, "one day, I'll settle the score."

Over one hundred games fill my past through nearly one year of play
And I burn with barely contained excitement when I realize
The great premise that millions more await
It's gotta be my fate to rise like one thousand stars
Because I won't reach for the moon, I'll be reaching for Mars
I'll wear my battle scars proud and far as I proceed forward
When it feels like just yesterday that I could barely stand

_________________
Slava Ukraini!