ALEX FORMENTON
BRIDGE TOO FAR MAYBE THIS ONE
SOME FANS SAY ARE DONE
Ode To Wayne Gretzky
We all carry the same genes,
and look how different we turn out;
I honed my skills for playing hockey,
and look how far I’ve come.
***
Note:
Wayne Gretzky was born in Brantford, Ontario, in 1961. He played junior hockey in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, for the Soo Greyhounds, and in 1978, signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). That same year, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA, who joined the National Hockey League (NHL) when the WHA folded. While with the Edmonton Oilers, Wayne and his fellow teammates won four Stanley Cups. Wayne Gretzky, aka “The Great One,” went on to play for the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues and ended his hockey career with the New York Rangers in 1999 following his retirement.
To me there is not justice in this world,
and no God awaiting us either.
So who, therefore, could freely harm an innocent soul,
and then each night sleep in peace for ever after?
For though many things that a man has done,
may well lie dormant through the passing years,
as if safe in a long-forgotten silence,
on some calm morning,
say in magic Spring,
with Nature beautiful and moving,
memories of scars on others that he made,
they will suddenly weep and break open,
sending shivers running down the spine
to haunt and torment with knowing.
And oh thus would that I,
from my cradle to my grave,
tried so not to have left on a person,
as in my goodbye to Pat,
the cuts of human pain,
and the hurt of my thoughtless actions,
when in truth I was crying out for the love she offered me,
even in the moment I last saw her.
Because your heart may never, ever, be given a chance again,
to express your regret to them and your deep sorrow.
Alison completed the triathlon in Rio,
With Hazel Smith, her guide athlete,
‘Cos she’s visually impaired, not solo,
And so needs Hazel to see the beat.
She comes from Dunfermline, Scotland,
Hazel comes from Edinburgh, capital,
She loves to sing whilst a cooking hand,
And worked as a physiotherapist vital.
She wanted to be a runner, but injuries,
Prevented this, so she took up triathlon,
With her friends’ persuasion, frivolities,
In 2014 it quickly became her profession.
Alison collected the bronze in Kitzbühel,
Austria, at the ETU European Champs,
And still in that year, 2014, a gold bushel,
In Edmonton at the ITU World Champs.
2015, and Alison struck pure gold again,
At the ETU European Champs, Geneva,
And then at the Chicago ITU World den,
She took for the two of ‘em another silver.
2016 and the ITU Worlds in Rotterdam,
The Netherlands, and Alison won gold;
She trains in Loughborough’s stadium,
And was born in 1987 as eighties bold.
Faye was working as a gym instructor,
When a colleague asked her to set up,
A triathlon event, and she was a runner,
In the contest, so desired to join up.
She competed in her first triathlon 2009,
And is now a four time World Champion;
She came 4th in Rio, just missed top line,
And trains at the Loughborough pavilion.
In 2013 at the ITU Para-triathlon Worlds,
She won the gold: that was in London,
And in 2014 at the Edmonton ITU Worlds,
She took the silver slot with conviction.
Then in 2015 Faye won another silver,
In the ETU European Geneva Champs,
And in 2016, Lisbon, Faye gave tether,
To another stellar silver for her lamps.
In the French Besançon World Para Event,
Claire captured the gold. A physiotherapist,
Who was born without any left hand rent,
Born in Eastbourne as a Nov. 1979 guest.
Eve T.M.M. is a sweet Canadian gal
A product of the wild wild west
Living between Edmonton and Calgary
Imagine as a cowgirl she's dressed
Riding frisky stallions and lassooing steers
Roundup time on Circle M Ranch
With the majestic Rockies off in the distant
A loud Yippy-Ki-O she does chant
Now my friends, I could be totally off base
Eve may just be a simple city girl
Perhaps just a sweet down to earth real lady
Sending rancher's heads in a whirl
Well I'd like to think she's a sophisticated lady
With servants at her beck and call
Wearing a diamond studded evening gown
Dancing the night away at the ball
Eve T.M.M. is a sweet Canadian gal
A product of the wild wild west
© Jack Ellison 2015
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.