Sports is interesting in that it makes people say stupid things. Things like "We're going to war." Sports are an important part of our culture, no doubt, and have an important part to play in our lives. But they're way overblown. One of my favorite poems is this one that puts sports in the context I believe it belongs in. As a game. Just a game. It's a poem I wrote about my grandfather, who not once, but twice stayed at work to complete his shift despite having a heart attack during the day. This poem appeare in one of my very favorite literary periodicals Gargoyle #50
The Streak
The announcer fawns
Over the Iron Man:
` “Number 63 has played
In 120 straight
Football games,
An amazing feat
Of endurance.”
I do the math:
Sixteen Sundays a year,
Three hours a pop
For nearly eight years,
360 total hours,
Or maybe five or six
Weeks of my granddaddy’s
Life in the field and
The mill afterhours,
Covering the rent
2,750 straight months,
Playing hurt through three
Heart attacks, seven children
And five disbanded
Pro football leagues.
Now let’s talk about
A fucking streak.
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