Check Mate

I stroll down to the corner of second chances 

and unfulfilled dreams just off the Boulevard to nowhere 

and see him standing there 

Fate

He’s kicked back against the lamp-post

all cool and calm like he’s got all the time 

in the world

I wait

He takes a drag off his cigarette 

pulls his hat over one eye blows out the smoke 

and looks me up and down

I don’t take the bait 

I toss my hair back with confidence

and shift a little on my stilettos

squinting like I’m  searching the distance for a friend

It feels great

I force him to speak first 

he asks me if I’m lost and if I need a helping hand 

he says it with a stomach turning grin 

My nerve doesn’t hesitate  

I assure him firmly I’m quite fine

and don’t need his assistance this time so I’ll pass 

thanks anyway as I turn my back on him in victory

Checkmate 

Written by Janey-Coyne Scaturro

ABOUT THE WRITER:

I've always had fragments of my own poetry and song lyrics swirling around in my head since I was young but I never thought to write them down. When I turned 49 in 2012 and was one year away from 50 it dawned on me that I had more time behind me than in front of me so I felt an urgency to finally put the thoughts and feelings down on paper. I had no idea that hundreds of poems were about to pour out, enough to fill six books so far. They are mostly about living and loving and the struggle of trying to get it right, triumph and failure, pain and joy, and the wonder of this thing we call life. My books are published on Amazon Kindle Ebooks. Fibromyalgia is what I have, it does not define who I am, or limit what I can accomplish.