Personal Essay: Among the Pawns and Kings by Mark Tulin/My Fair Lighthouse

Finding my mojo at a rundown Santa Barbara coffeehouse. Many thanks to My Fair Lighthouse for publishing Among the Pawns and Kings.

After a while, the regulars recognized me. The chess players in the corner glanced my way between moves. The older men tipped their caps as they read the daily, and the guy who resembled Leonard Cohen looked up from his hardcover and flashed me a Buddha smile. Even the baristas were friendly. They knew my name and saved a slice of banana bread for me. “Do you want me to warm it up, Mark?”