For U Johnny
I read the title as
U - nite- as
three syllables - hard I
And I marveled that a female poet would
write of U Johnny
and looked hurriedly down the page
hoping to read
Of your years leading the Colts
(who were in Baltimore then)
on gimpy knees and guts
when a player
who had it
had balls
not a multi-million $dollar$ contract,
a side deal with a shoe company and....
and of the anger as you
were pushed from the color commentary
by younger has-beens
and sank into muddle-aged oblivion
However, I misread the title
uni - tas
two syllables - soft I
An homage to Aiende and Chile
a democratically elected socialist government
ousted by a CIA-backed military coup
to maintain control over strategic copper
but those days are over
and today the country
produces wonderful, cheap wine
and farmed fish
So I wrote this poem
for U
Written sometime in 1977-1978 on reading Dorthy Livesay's poem from Ice Age - which can be found here
http://envoifound.com/envoi-poetry-festival/poets-dead-or-alive/dorothy-livesay-october-12-1909-december-29-1996/
Copyright © D.W. Rodgers | Year Posted 2015
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