Careful as you move

Twisting those bare, knotted knuckles.

Slice the diagonal with the precision of a surgeon,

Calm and serene, como la mariposa

Landing in the shade of boundless grass.

Your mind doesn’t simply dissect this move.

It ponders and engulfs the move of this move:

The fifth, fifteenth and fiftieth iterations

Cycle like clockwork through your synapses.

No longer just another unfortunate,

burdensome acquaintance,

Time is your friend.

Feel the levity, the sterile clarity

As your index finger and bony thumb

Clench the finely bristled mane.

Know that this has been done before.

Know that this will happen again.

For the variation is no longer

That simple infinity of your father’s father,

Though the symmetry remains the same.

Pause a moment: the positions are set,

The lingering pieces frozen in place.

A delicate whisper floats upon the board:

Jaque mate señor, jaque mate.