the game is solved.
the kings stack up like sherwood venison,
i play red, you, black, and we skim
two of the humors across quadrants, planes,
gaps down which we all vanish.
look, this will only be interesting
if you trip up. we will only
sing skips once you play without guile again,
with tenderfoot draughts, a run like a trail
broken for trackers and hounds.
the chinooks match you perfectly,
apprehended finally by
notations, exponents, pristine
bluetick breeds of math.
you document chess matches
in a macintosh. you read transcripts
of the knight's swiveling penmanship,
the rook long as sight down a gorge,
the queen who is dark, moves
without feet or robe, sweet-talks
the good pawns of potiphar's house like a mouthful of grapes.
the ending is always the juicy bit, granite or ivory
emasculated by a clean switch,
a bounty tip, the assassination he saw coming
like the bladder of a chainsaw.
you tell me, it's finite, like language.
there are only so many words, i have just
been writing the same kings' radii,
mated meditations, pawns who reach
the other side like a lineage of abraham
to find themselves transfigured,
royal after all.
you plot your next move. i write a poem
about it. how many others have
stood in this spot before
and thought about all
the possible rays?
when were you the first to crow over
the spilled bishop from a tight,
equilateral dance?
