I watched the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” several years ago, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
On a cold and sleety yesterday, I sat with my Rover client Gracie (a sweet Golden Retriever Border Collie mix) and binge-watched the red-headed Kentucky orphan Beth Harmon’s rise from the dreary corridors of the Methuen Home for Girls to the chandelier-lit halls of a grand, prestigious Soviet-era building to defeat Russian Chess Master and nemesis, Vasily Borgov.
If you haven’t seen “The Queen’s Gambit“, I can’t recommend it enough.
Anyway, I woke up this morning inspired by the series and composed a poem about Beth Harmon, then set the words to music using the AI Music Engine Suno.
I used Suno to create two versions, a Kentucky Bluegrass version (Beth Harmon hails from Kentucky) and a 1960’s Psychedelic Rock version, as many of the songs from the series are of that genre.
The Queen’s Gambit Lyrics
Beltik’s sorrow doesn’t wane
as Harmon sweetly smiles
he knows her reign
is on the board
dropping kings
on chess tiles
She sees the game
inside her head
imagines pieces on the ceiling
on greens and whites
she dreams in bed
her competitors are reeling
Harmon toys
with men and boys
confused by what they see
beauty’s intellect
cuts through the noise
as she brings them to their knees
With Gibson sips
upon her lips, her Librium emerges
breaks through the clouds
and Russian crowds
from Borgov she diverges
Sixty-four squares of sanctuary
logic, solitude, control
kings and bishops
queens and pawns
white ivory and black coal
Harmon toys
with men and boys
confused by what they see
beauty’s intellect
cuts through the noise
as she brings them
to their knees
She sees the game
inside her head
imagines pieces on the ceiling
on greens and whites
she dreams in bed
her competitors are reeling
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.
bendingtheneedle 