Sometimes
I don't want to breathe
but I still do
just to spite myself.

Making each morning
the remainder of questions
and the child
I know nothing about.

I started off as an equal
I have everything that they do
my life was one and the same as my foe
childish battles of lesser
I won baring cost of a little
but as time outgrew my conscience
I found that the pieces were moving against me
with time my company reduced
they left one by one
all in time forgetting me
my castles collapsed
my religion dissuaded
my protectors in hiding
I could not run anymore
I have been cornered to a wall
as the queen left silently
without saying goodbye
I could not live any longer
she was most precious to me
I could not win without her by my side
so the king knelt down and died.

Gracefully over the squares, as a blonde or a brunette,
she makes moves that not even a queen can imitate.
Always active and taking the initiative,
she likes to fork.
She does it across the board,
taking with ease not only pawns, but also kings,
and a bad bishop or two.
Sometimes she feels like making
quiet moves,
at other times, she adopts romantic moods,
and makes great sacrifices.
But, being hers a zero-sum game,
she  often forks just out of spite.
An expert at prophylaxis, she can be a swindler,
and utter threats,
skewering men to make some gains.
Playing  with her risks a conundrum,
and also catching Kotov’s syndrome.
Nonetheless, despite having been trampled
by her strutting ways
my trust in her remains,
unwavering,
until the endgame.

Upon the marble foundation
stood kings of light and dark.
Each towered above their noble men,
each watched from their royal mark.

The queens faced off where they stood,
while the knights mounted their horses.
The bitter players sat on each side
considering their forces.

The bishops were positioned beside the rooks,
the pawns in a line up front.
Up there they would take the attacks,
up there they would take the brunt.

The pieces were arranged in perfect order
the match was about to begin.
The players shook hands, one stone faced
the other with a stretching grin.

The pawns of ivory made their move
while the ebony ones looked on.
And so it went, one piece at a time
until most of them were gone.

There the queens were protecting their kings
before one made a fatal mistake.
With a slash from a knight, the queen was brought down
and it left the king to quiver and quake.

The pieces that were left quickly moved in
and the king was pushed to his knees
His crown fell off and rolled away
to the sounds of his dying pleas.