A Tale of Juarez
Exactly why we bought the marble chess
set in Juarez I cannot say. I only remember
my father and mother carrying the heavy board
and paper bag of pieces through crowded streets
firecracker hot with the smell of mammon.
The set sat on our coffee table for years.
We learned the basics of the game but never moved
with much skill. We were more checker people.
But the heavy board and pieces served as icons
in the tale of the time the baptist preacher and his wife
jewed a man down one day in a reeky border town.
I have a chess set like that. Been carrying it around for years. It stays in the closet and I never play chess.
Hi, Mike. Yeah, I think that one’s probably in a closet or moved in a garage sale.
I really think your writing is great and have commented on that previously, but do not like “jewed down” term at all!
Thanks for writing, Christine. I don’t like the phrase either but it was faithful to the larger story of that memory. I’m sorry if you were offended, that was not the intent.