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Life is- playing ladder and snake

by Ashok Sharda


It was a throw of the dice
Which brought me in this game
Of ladder and snake

A hit of six
Made me trust to yet another opportunity
Added to this six was a toss up of three
Which unexpectedly
Made me climb the ladder to twenty eight


It was a matter of absence of assignable cause
That a throw of dice
Brought me five
Saving me from a definite snakebite

But how long this wheel of fortune
Will take sides
Another throw of the dice
Dumped me from forty-two to five

This game shall continue
A cast of dice
Will happily make me climb
To a snake bite
Failing to draw a dividing line
Between a bite and a climb

I shall rise to fall
And shall climb back again for another bite
Ascend shall lead me to descend
And then to ascend at some other point
On the scale of time
With yet another
Toss of the dice


Another whirligig of chance
Leads me to ninety-five
Just one square ahead
Of a snake ready to strike
I can see my face in his face
Vivid alluring and so distinct
I fail to undo my advancing step
To square one
The wheel of fortune
Thus brings me back
Tossing up dice
In this game of
Ladder and snake

08/04/2004

Posted on 08/03/2004
Copyright © 2024 Ashok Sharda

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Anne Engelen on 08/03/04 at 09:58 PM

this is so creative and clever; I absolutely love it. The textwas a tad hard to read due to the so well fitting background. Very well done my friend!!

Posted by Kara Hayostek on 08/03/04 at 10:01 PM

I really liked this poem, though like anne said it was hard to read. Perhaps you can fade the background a little.

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 08/04/04 at 03:40 PM

Superb metaphor for life Ashok. Perhaps the inventer(s) of the game knew something we children didn't when they put this game on the market oh so long ago. I remember playing it when I was a kid. Thanks for the great reminder of both my childhood and adulthood. :o)

Posted by Michelle Angelini on 08/04/04 at 06:05 PM

This poem is awesome! I love the background to go with the theme of the theme & comparison to life. "Yes, sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug." Good read.

Posted by Laura Doom on 08/04/04 at 09:44 PM

Yes, but ladder & snake can be folded up and thrown away - hmm... No-one could describe you as an easy ride Ashok :)

Posted by Rhyana Fisher on 08/05/04 at 02:43 AM

i'm on vacation, i'd ask you not to make me think to hard right now but it's too late. there may be no ladders in the near future but at least i can't see any snakes either.

Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 08/05/04 at 12:32 PM

Fascinating poem that to me suggests the idea of reincarnation! Or maybe just a look at the endless "up and down" of daily living. Quite a background graphic, very illustrative.

Posted by Michele Schottelkorb on 08/05/04 at 02:16 PM

i love this poem so much, that i cannot comment right at the moment... ashok, you are a blessing...

Posted by Ginette T Belle on 08/06/04 at 03:15 AM

wonderful, wonderful analogy...i honestly don't understand how you can pack so much meaning and depth into your poetry and make it sound like a beautiful, lush flowing river...amazing

Posted by Rula Shin on 08/06/04 at 08:07 PM

What if you don’t throw the dice? Are they thrown for you? And when you do DECIDE to throw them, is the nature of the game to include you the same as if you had not, therefore making the choice to throw an illusion? You are there, a helpless pawn no matter if you decide to play? Is this our fate? Where is our WILL located? I don’t see it here on the board game. It must be beyond the lines, beyond the white and yellow blocks, beyond the ladders and beyond the snake bites, the locations of which are irrelevant considering the lack of choice one has on where one lands. Can I will the number I roll? Will accepting my helplessness allow me to fold the board and create my own game with new rules of play willed by me? I’m full of questions it seems and no real conclusion hahahahaha This piece of yours is brilliant as always Ashok and I am thinking too much hahahaha :-)

Posted by JD Clay on 08/07/04 at 03:03 PM

Innovative presentation. Chance being what it is, we are relegated to choice: life as a series of decisions, good and not so good. Pe4ce...

Posted by Max Bouillet on 08/16/04 at 02:34 PM

The random attributes that allow us to climb and fall and to place significance to the arbituary numbers of the distance we ascend or descend. But no matter where we are on the board; we are still us.

Posted by Maryellen Lebeda-Parra on 08/16/04 at 03:49 PM

very beautiful ashok - ~maryellen

Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 05/20/06 at 01:37 AM

Great presentation -a visual feast of words and images. "Ascend shall lead me to descend"....

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