the queen's gambit.

gawky is the gaze first given to the ginger-bobbed girl.

watch those palms press into cheeks -

careful gaze steeled to a confident beat

beating you with tranquilised intuition;

she planned at night through the cloudy roof.

she is a move you would never expect.

she is a girl.

slight and their brows raise and they wonder-

why does she walk with such a casual winning stroll?

oh.

because she has claws; chess is her brilliant birthright.

her skills are something admired, but a girl

has to come of age. no longer a girl.

child prodigy is now a wonder of a woman.

first started bleeding at her first tournament

but now she has a bite of beauty.

chess. sex. the intimacy of rooks tapping

against a board in careful looks -

close gaze, breathing is a kiss,

feel the tension in the air,

a foreplay.

she is a queen - and she can use this.

it is a gambit, but a release, and it is natural.

the game helped her to grow, a world

of sixty-four, sixty-four squares to become a woman.

bodies glide across the board, intuitive.

the sensuality of a game.

no longer gawky, the game guided her.

beauty on a board, thrilling gaze throughout.

the girl chess champion -

her mind was the first draw.