Introducing Australia's premier athlete:
he has big shoes to fill because he has big feet -
a champion of kickboxing and long jump too,
he's the unparalleled kangaroo.
Driving is not a sport for the unrehearsed,
practice makes perfect on a speeding track.
The steering wheel is a discus, blunt and capable of slicing/dicing.
A handbrake? A pull-snap-stop bone break.
Electric windows are guillotines; seatbelts are nooses in softer attire.
An Olympian goes for gold; drivers should settle for bronze on a road.
Short
So many people assume
Short children can’t compete in
Sports, while in
School. It should come as no
Surprise that good talent can come in
Small packages. Let’s get out and
Support all kids regardless of size.
Since the earliest Olympic games, history
Has provided the players in dramatic scenes.
Where the acts would command the physical,
As they performed to the kings and queens.
Their display of strength and speed,
Gives rise to power that would adore.
While leaping and throwing to the heavens,
As if they no longer touched the floor.
The early games bred many great warriors,
Whereas today they create better diplomats.
Even though they may not be the best role models,
They're often effective in dealing with aristocrats.
Youth and vigor
Young and pretty
Sun is shining.
As a seventeen year old competitive swimmer,
the other swimmer I looked up to was Mark Spitz,
he was a multiple gold medal winner,
a wonder in the water, a swimming blitz.
I had Olympic dreams,
my element was the aquatic,
but life took me in another direction, it seemed,
the lure of going to practices seemed less exotic.
How I loved the smell of the pool chlorine,
I sliced through the water as if a dolphin,
I so cherished the marine,
but other obligations needed to fit in.
The working world was calling,
and aspiring for the Game's gold had to
be retired,
but I was elated Mark had world records
falling,
and I still feel inspired.
As another Summer Olympics comes to
a close,
I'm proud of the athletes who devote their
time and sweat to their sport,
and I surely suppose,
I'll always treasure my long ago youth
in New York. ~
We arrive suddenly into the light,
Needy and crying for what's in store.
Then soon enough we begin to crawl,
Only to stand before so much more.
Our bodies and brain will grow together,
As we learn to jog before we run.
While social natures includes some others,
Playing games mostly always for the fun.
This growth often creates to coordinate,
New skills, such as, hand to eye.
Whereas another device may be used,
Like a moving ball, and how to apply.
Not all of these pursuits involve others,
Some are solitary and self-serving at best.
Where one's own body is pushed to its limits.
Through endurance or pace that it tests.
Yet the variety is seemingly endless,
Whether a ballistic tool is used or not.
Since from our birth we learn to manipulate,
The course or trajectory before it is caught.
Discipline athlete
Heed rules of sportsmanship,
Go for winning feat.
Doric columns supported the xyst
with ancestral plane trees and boxwood
lining the spaces between and whispering
the secrets of ancient polished stone.
The promenade led to the gymnasium
where zealous athletes of strength and valor
practiced their regiment for the Games
to earn enhanced esteem and station.
So compelling now to amble and hear
their eager, raised voices of so long ago,
echoing through the walled garden
if one remains silent, and listens.
A brawly guy
A woman sighs
He gives a wink
It makes you think
He goes to the gym
At sports he'll always win
He often dates
And never waits
He goes online
Occasionally has wine
He's captain of the football team
The fans in the stand often scream
Admired by many
Offers are plenty
Thinking 1st Timothy, 2ndTimothy, Titus
Do they help us manage church worship
"Worship", of course, includes Sunday sermon?
Clearly we are to watch, pray, test spirits
Timothy had mom & grandma as mentors
Then the Apostle-missionary Paul himself
Yet he was timid, young : "courage, love, soundness"
Were the prayers for him, Away with slave-spirit!
"Preach The Word," in seasons or not, Boldly
Bible lessons of Paul, on the Bible, plus salvation story -
Avoid debate, but share Jesus' Gospel of Grace
That everyone can be saved from hell: choose Jesus
They gathered as a freezing group
To plead with the sharp-shooting troop
Not to even around them snoop.
Their murderous wings not flutter but droop
For being, all affable chicks in a coop:
A working class from The South Loop
Travelling with a fun-loving troupe
And an athlete draped in his whoop…
A tears-unlocking “Please, Don’t shoot us!”
By the just-discharged from their bus
Willing to all cough out from their purse
Rather than be sent to sleep or a nurse.
Born in the same hospital as Victory,
A set record and enviable history;
For the benefit of the Self- Deceived,
With the gloves of the same midwife received
And in case another tries to lead one astray,
He from victory but a cot away!
Both blokes the achievement of the same maternity,
Between the two an infant-rooted fraternity.
From the Do-or- Die Sprouts, staggering skill
And from him a conqueror’s rare will
Yet, from him also, the foulest rough play
Besides terrible things one mustn’t say.
After a defeat judged upsetting
Starts a battle with cascading tears
And for a performance ruled irritating
Eyes as deadly as spears.
The Do-or-Die Athlete could make The Alive The late
Enough water for the blood-smeared hands of Pilate.
Out of the ether once came a small child
who hoped to one day fly thru the air.
Diligently applying herself, learning a style,
performing higher leaps, tapping the rare.
She performed somersaults, all in her stride,
with greater and more intelligent ease.
Winning honors and gold medals worldwide,
winning hearts with technical expertise
She became the world's new daring upstart
"sensational, uncanny, never fails,"
They didn't care that she led with her heart
and began to believe all of the tales.
As heroes may do, she took a misstep
and stumbled as the world was looking on.
the fault came not because she was inept,
the world on her shoulders became too strong.
A lesson to be learned: tho brave they are
some athletes just barely more than a child.
We expect all heroes to be bright stars
so we can foster their dreams for a while.
We forget they're human, just as we are
with mightier longings and goals, perhaps.
We must forgive occasional dimmed stars,
help them stand if they sometimes collapse.
Flippity Floppity
Billy Jean Moffitt King
master tennis player
career legend
Never a thought of her
ephemerality
troubled, infirmity
record destined
Slippity Sloppity
Robert Larimore Riggs
Hustler, tennis gambler
major success
Credible challenger
overambitiousness
Battle of the Sexes
Bobby’s excess
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.