Knight Moves

GeneTwaronite

Playing chess with my computer, I struggle to relearn what, where, and how to move and now all I see is squares bathroom and floor tiles, crossword puzzles, the checkered blouse of the lady in front of me as pawns plod forward in dull straight paths, rooks zoom about in their rows and columns, bishops whiz diagonally back and forth, while king steps cautiously one square at a time and queen goes anywhere she damn pleases. But mostly it is knights I see moving in their crazy L’s two squares one way and then one square perpendicular the other way, or sometimes one square, then two charging into center position to capture an enemy piece or angling away to evade attack, jumping over every obstacle in their lively three-step dance around the board.

My knights may not be as valuable as other pieces, but I find them handy and formidable in tight corners and unpredictable, like the long game I play.

Gene Twaronite is the author of four collections of poetry as well as the rhyming picture book How to Eat Breakfast. His first poetry book Trash Picker on Mars, published by Kelsay Books, was the winner of the 2017 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Arizona poetry. Gene has an MA in education, and leads a poetry workshop for the University of Arizona OLLI program. A former New Englander, Gene now lives in Tucson. Follow more of his poetry at genetwaronite.poet.com