Getting ready to teach a poetry introduction to my English classes, I delved into my digital file folders and found a bunch of poems I wrote in 2002. They were all from portfolio of poetry I wrote for a class at McDaniel college. Amazing class! Published Poet Kathy Mangan taught the course--and taught me SO much about writing...the economy of language, muscular verbs, enjambment, etc. Here's one of my favorites:
During the Game
One moment--I’m there, in my easy
chair. Monday Night Football flickers before my vacant
stare as my wife folds
laundry in the bedroom upstairs.
The children finally put away
for the night, exhausted from activities--tag, catch, kick
the can--that I did not share
with them. I recline in peace,
my fingers coated with salt, spice, grease,
my tongue still wet from my last drink.
The two minute warning, I begin to stand breath caught
heart stut-
ters, mind tingles, gray fringes close
in, vision fading.
Pressure, like a phantom
standing on my chest, crushesmebent-
over in agony as tiny knives
jog from my shoulder down my arm.
Next moment--the only
thing that matters, my
wife’s hand gripping
mine through the cold
rails of the hospital bed.
Funny how life can change in an instant. And until that sudden moment, how easy it is to take things…people for granted. So what about you? Are you cherishing the blessing of life? Are there people and things you need to be more attentive to?
