Checkmate

You don’t really need to know her name,

just remember that her alias is the lady in gray.

She will greet you warmly in her apartment door,

as you enter, visible scattered chess pieces are laid out on the floor.

Soul baring conversations you will never forget,

as she puffs out various shaped smoke from her cigarette.

I am particularly fond of my visits with the lady in gray,

even with the fear of the dark, with her I will likely stay.

Secrets whispered that she hears and holds,

stories of me and her that will never be told.

Her stare has kept me frozen as she whispers “Stalemate”,

then like a swift thief in the night, armed with only a deadly wink

and an evil grin she follows with “Checkmate”.

After each set, the lady in gray sips on her lipsticked stained glass of red wine and lights up another cigarette.

She then proceeds to pick up and arrange the fallen chess pieces, in a similar manner of fixing a broken heart.Then she grins at me and again soflty whispers to my ear “Restart”.

Her stare has kept me frozen as she whispered “stalemate”. -Conrad

this short poem is for Bianca aka "The Lady in Gray". Thanks for teaching me the game of chess. :)