You set the board, a field of alternating black and white squares. Multi-level, like Star Trek, to consider time, space, all dimensions. Bolt to the boundary of the table, stay in the lines, ignore the teeth menacing at the edges of my field of vision. Shift to the rook, you circle, gaze down with one eye before you turn to use the other, dive when I spy. Castle to protect my kingdom. The knight jousts through, upending everything, and we start again. Count backward, repeat the words in order, follow your finger. I breeze through the brackets, even win in the final seconds of the game, crowd on the edge of their seats, but still leave defeated.
Bio
Christa Fairbrother
Christa Fairbrother, MA, is a Florida-based Pushcart Prize nominated author living with chronic illnesses. Her poetry has appeared in DMQ Review, Medical Literary Messenger, Stoneboat, The London Reader, and Unbroken, among others. She’s also wrote the multiple award-winning book Water Yoga (Singing Dragon, 2022). She’s been a resident with the Sundress Academy for the Arts, and her chapbook was a finalist for the Kari Ann Flickinger Memorial Prize. Connect with her: www.christafairbrotherwrites.com or @christafairbrotherwrites on IG.