This pawn survived 
the storms of the middlegame 
that swept away 

the other pieces, left two 
kings, this last black pawn that still 

struggles to become a queen. 

—After Sacrificial Pawn by Richard Hunter

Sacrificial Pawn © 2023 by Richard Hunter. All rights reserved.
Image appears here with photographer’s permission.

Richard Hunter

feels grateful and privileged to have grown up on the west coast of Scotland. During that time he spent many years working as a forester in and around the hills and lochs. He grew to love the soft surreal light created by the frequent misty days that would change the landscape into a silent monochromatic minimalistic world. To him, those gently lit landscapes were beautiful, full of mood and mystery. The mood and mystery of his native landscape have remained with him, and influence his images wherever he goes.

See more of his work at Flickr and 500px.

Gary S. Rosin

is a Contributing Editor of MacQueen’s Quinterly. His poetry and haiga have appeared, or are forthcoming, in various literary reviews and anthologies, including Chaos Dive Reunion (Mutabilis Press, 2023); contemporary haibun (Volume 17, Red Moon Press, 2022); Concho River Review, Sulphur River, Texas Poetry Calendar; The Ekphrastic Review; and Visions International.

Two of his ekphrastic poems appear in Silent Waters, photographs by George Digalakis (Athens, 2017). He is the author of two chapbooks, Standing Inside the Web (Bear House Publishing, 1990) and Fire and Shadows (Legal Studies Forum, 2008). His poems “Black Dogs” and “Viewing the Dead” were nominated for Pushcart Prizes.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Out of the Haze, collaborative haiga with photograph by George Digalakis and poem by Gary S. Rosin in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 8, June 2021); nominated for, and selected for publication in, Contemporary Haibun 17 (Red Moon Press, 2022)

⚡ Featured Poet: Gary S. Rosin in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 7, March 2021)

⚡ Crossing Kansas in The Wild Word (7 February 2020); includes audio of Rosin reading his poem

⚡ Two Readings: “Apparition” and “Black Dogs” by Gary S. Rosin for Texas Poetry Calendar 2015 at the Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Texas (20 September 2014).

See also Black Dogs here in MacQ (Issue 12, March 2022), which was nominated in October 2022 by MacQ for the 48th annual Pushcart Prize (2024 edition).