NaPoWriMo – Day Sixteen: Checkmate

We were handed the chessboard

without any instructions.

Did not know Queen from Rook,

or Bishop from Knight.

We clustered our pieces

on opposing corners,

unaware that the aim

was to take the other one out,

to claim their colours as our own,

capture the King.

take a crown from the body

only to reset the pieces

and begin again.

Instead we skimmed each other,

slipped between the checkered tiles

to the grey land beyond.

I remember the first time you touched me,

how the world shuddered as I fell.

I learnt the meaning of captured,

what it was to be conquered

and still I came back

to loose myself each time we played

because defeat

was so much better

than anything else I could find.

“write a poem that prominently features the idea of play”

Published by Carol J Forrester

Carol J Forrester is a writer and a history geek. Her debut collection 'It's All In The Blood' came out November 2019. She has a 2:1 BA degree in history from Bath Spa University, enjoys judo at least twice a week, and tries to attend poetry events around the Midlands when she can. Her flash fiction story ‘Glorious Silence’ was named as River Ram Press’ short story of the month for August 2014 and her short story ‘A Visit From The Fortune Teller’ has been showcased on the literary site Ink Pantry. Her poems ‘Sunsets’ and ‘Clear Out‘ were featured on Eyes Plus Words, and two of her poems were included in the DVerse Poets Pub Publication ‘Chiaroscuro’ which is available for purchase on amazon.Her poem ‘Until The Light Gets In‘ was accepted and published at The Drabble and her poem ‘Newborn’ was published by Ink Sweat & Tears. She has been lucky enough to write guest posts for sites such as Inky Tavern and Song of The Forlorn and has hosted a number of guest bloggers on her site Writing and Works. View all posts by Carol J Forrester