Checkmate

To pass time, I sometimes played chess during hospital stays.

Despite my chemo brain, I could still beat most challengers.

On the last day of six excruciating months of chemo,

Death comes and we play a game. It was the first time

I’d seen him since we ate churros in the desert.

Several times, he had me against the ropes, but I fought back,

took all his pawns, killed his queen, and chased his king into a corner.

“Checkmate!” I gloat, toppling his king. “You lose.”

As a sullen Death departs, he stops and glares over his shoulder.

“You know, Johnny Boy,” he hisses with his forked tongue.

“This isn’t over. I’ll be seeing you someday.”

“Someday,” I reply with a smirk as I do a little happy dance.

“But not today.”

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About the author: 

In the fall of 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 2 B-cell, non-specified, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. Over the next six months, I endured six grueling hospitalizations for chemotherapy and immunotherapy. On February 6, 2023, I rang the bell on the Oncology ward. I’m cancer-free. Throughout the ordeal, I wrote poems. I include a handful below to share with your readers. They are original and unpublished.