Light rain fell from
a passing cloud
onto the 10 year old fledgling face
the field has straw colored grassy spots,
but mostly good old dirt...White goal posts glare..
.no bench sitters..all players play..
The coach pats each
boy's head....then he bellows
affectionately..."OK, OK..keep on it...
stay with the ball....push it
forward..
now..don't kick..that's it...
keep it moving...'Oh, No!!' (grimace)
...'.he kicked it'...g*#d%!"
Another ball slipped
by the goalie...."Meathead!!
Now...pass it!"...a blur of legs struggle
for the ball, tangled..."Ouch!"..
A snap is heard and silence ensues.."Get him
some help..now!! I'm going over there...jeez!
Take it to the side."
"Oh boy, one down, you o.k
son? Doc says you are out of the game.
Take care now, hear?" Clapping, time outs over,
the other half due to start...."Wake up, Andrew..
.enough sleeping out there!
Devin!..throw it in....how about some support...??
Hey...I need you over here, not back there!?"
"Way to go..lead the way....
Now, cross over...
pass it to him...Defense!!..where's the defense!?"
Could be a scene from Les Miserables..
bruised jaws, gangling growing arms and torn
garments. Sweat builds up and drips;
somebody steps on wrists...muddy feet..
this scaled down mini
war battlefield..
"Stay with it! good boot.."
Like fish out of water..
..our future's men..
the clock runs out...
Ok, guys, next time, next time..
By the way, practice is on Tuesday
ya gotta learn to run with it..
Fresh oranges to quench..
"It's OK, they had more back up..
...it's all right, Buddy, next time!
- 4:30 sharp!!
Be there -
..great game guys..
way to play!"
by klr
It's Open Link night over at dversepoets.com where more than one hundred post their poetry...please fell welcome to join in reading other entries this week. Any subject is a go on Tuesdays. A soccer game, played last month, could be an analogy for life - with stops and starts and back and forths but I wrote it simply as an observer in the physical sense ;)
haha...yes...soccer games can be analogies for life indeed...les miserables made me smile.. my son never played soccer so i think i may missed some valuable life lessons..smiles...thanks for taking us along with you
ReplyDeleteThanks, Claudia..
ReplyDeleteugh....having just come out of football season here....i saw coaches on both ends of the spectrum...those that pretty well abused the little kids with their words...and those that were encouraging....i played soccer for several years...and there is def much you can learn in sports...
ReplyDeletegreat snapshot of the game -- loved the blurred image of your kid!
ReplyDeleteI felt as if I was right there with you watching the game. A vivid write!
ReplyDeleteSoccer is a sport that teaches you a lot about life ... well written piece !!!
ReplyDeleteWe're a baseball family but the analogies still ring true...and I'm thankful we've had mostly good coaching...I suppose there is an analogy there too.
ReplyDeleteBeen there..heard that; yes, the children all start there and learn life's lessons before moving on. Great capture.
ReplyDeleteYou've done such a good job of capturing the action in this sports poem. And the photo is amazing.
ReplyDeleteSo much to learn from sports.... great capture.
ReplyDelete