'CHECKMATE'

Supping my cool aqua mineral, stirred

I repose against the bar and await

An Asian creature, singularly furred

Just ten minutes late for our first blind date

Pheromones give my position away

To the new Queen moving onto the board

As the game of love engenders foreplay

Before I, the King, must fall on my sword

Obsidian eyes dance in virgin snow

Slowly melting my inscrutable heart

An earthquake tremor marks a first hello

While a formal bow masks a shaky start

I recommend a Chinese takeaway

And she concurs with my favorite dish

Fresh bamboo shoots arrive with little delay

Topped off with honey and fresh local fish

A small giant panda is due within

Wolong, whose outlook is colourful now

That I have wooed, and won, my Queen Yin Yin

And she's checked, and mated, her king Yang Tao

Michael Ashby, Sidmouth.

(Funeral poem for a chess player)