KASPI

KASPI

Ah!,
     those pieces
are starting to open up
becoming a lot more
friendly to me

the squares, too,
are starting to show me things,
teach me
how this dance
is done

pulling back the veil until
I see them, find them,
those
   secret patterns, hidden
pathways

how it all
       meshes together as
a perfect machine

Oh
  now for the first time
I embrace that temptation
to sacrifice time and
material
    seeing what this game
of games unlocks
to what heights
it takes me

honoring the memory
of Kaspi, my one-eyed, bicolor,
feline best friend,

named after that author
who so cogently argued for
the intimate
connection between chess
and life
with all the persuasiveness
of a great world champion.