Checkmate

In the night,

in the solace of her workshop,

the insurgent artisan prepares

for a final game of chess,

as she whittles away chips

of cherry tree wood

giving unpredictable shapes

to a new set of pawns

who will liberate horses,

draft their knights in,

occupy towers,

mate with kings, bishops and queens,

until they all put behind,

overwhelmed by sacred orgasms,

the rules for their calculated movements

the protocols for their predatory aims.

This is a literary translation by the author of his poem “Jaque mate”, featured in the book Los viajes de Diosa (The Travels of Goddess)