Here in Canada, it is no misreport
to say that ice hockey is our national sport,
but over the last number of years it would certainly seem
that a "summer sport" applies to our favourite team.
A game actually played in spring, summer and fall,
it's an import, "America's Pastime", I'm talkin' 'bout baseball!
And the team that inspires so much loyalty and praise
in this country is, of course, the Toronto Blue Jays!
Canada is a nation of great contrast and variety,
a mosaic, not a melting pot, of ethnic diversity.
But if there's anything that can unite us
(I'm so delighted to report),
it's the fortunes of a team in a much-loved sport.
Here, the Jays have a following across this big land,
from the high western mountains to the wide eastern strand.
No other team in baseball can make this claim;
not the damn Yankees or Dodgers with all of their fame.
So if you visit Canada, just so you know...
you'll be in Blue Jays country. Go Jays Go!!!
Let’s parley about pasta as World famous as the rasta Bob Marley
With potato rascal parcel not American Italian stallion like Rocky
Cocky stubby not ice hockey puck but stocky chubby soft gnocchi
Pizza is also a master blaster for those who chose good food faster
Cool old school cellar creamy mozzarella dreamy stellar mortadella
Better also for pancetta regatta bold umami tsunami of salami army
Drunken rapscallions parmesan medallions gold from sunken galleons
More is less finesse caress expedient ingredient largess will impress
Motto in gourmet grotto wins the lotto is of course Goddess risotto
Totemic signature vinegar star Balsamic the talismanic tsar in a jar
By the way we're told they say come what may ever day "agrodolce"
It's an ice hockey term that means, "Let's Fight!"
A Canadian rally cry by right
Against annexation
to stay their own nation
It's against Trump's greed for control they smite
His arrogant audacity's surreal
For wanting another country to steal
To be king on a throne
He's destroying his own
Before him he expects the world to kneel
The term, 'Elbows Up' we should take to heart
Freedom is a right for which many fought
I fear it's being lost
When Democracy's tossed
Jeopardized by Trump, the depraved upstart
Let’s not make this so little mistake,
We don’t have to agree with Marie or Catherine,
To love a girl, she has other assets,
Her tantalizing lipstick, I think so much of her,
We don’t have to agree with him,
To keep a friend, Martin, or Gilda’s
Just watch ice hockey, or football
Just send your car to the next garage
Let’s agree, we don’t need to agree,
With everyone, or the lonely poet
Just look at the stars at five o'clock,
Just fish for large trouts in Idaho,
To becoming friendlier. Or listen to the warm wind.
Ne faisons pas cette petite erreur,
On n’a pas besoin d’être d’accord avec Marie ou Catherine,
Pour aimer une fille, Elle a d’autres atouts,
Son brillant rouge à lèvres, je pense tant à elle,
On n’a pas besoin d’être d’accord avec lui,
Pour garder un ami, Martin, ou Gildas,
Il suffit de regarder du hockey sur glace,
Il suffit d’envoyer sa voiture au garage
Soyons d’accord, on n’a pas besoin d’être d’accord,
Avec tout le monde,
Il suffit de regarder les étoiles à cinq heures,
Il suffit de pêcher la truite dans l’Idaho,
Pour devenir plus sympathique. Ou d’écouter le vent.
They rode to matches in an old school bus.
The rookies at the front, old players in back,
the coach, by the driver, "she's one of us!".
Wore team colors out, came home wearing black.
An ice hockey team, the pride of Humbolt,
met a 40 ton semi that just didn't break.
Sixteen young players' futures bought to a halt
by a worn out driver, barely awake.
Six thousand people in that prairie town,
a whole nation cried for their sons that night,
but not enough tears the sorrow to drown,
of a mother sobbing, eyes wet, throat tight.
Think on your kids, playing sport, feeling fine,
then think on the loss at lonely stop sign.
Winner takes all
He sat on the sofa feeling disgruntled, watching TV
about a young woman who read a poem about hill climbing.
I have climbed many hills, he said to himself,
but there was always a steeper hill to conquer.
Take sport, he said, women win everything you care to mention
even football and ice-hockey the last bastion for men has been invaded
to the newspapers delight, of course, the editors are women,
as are the contributors; it isn’t fair.
His wife enters. She has been on the treadmill for an hour,
asks him if he has done the dishes? No! He says folding his arms in protest.
Do them now the cleaning lady is coming, she may think badly about us.
Triumph, at last, he thinks, typical female worries about silly things.
I want to run a marathon,
A mountain want to climb,
I want to be a pilot,
Write a book in record time.
I want to act on Broadway,
And at golf beat Tiger Woods,
Complete a sail around the world,
Design some special puds.
I want to be on radio,
Present a morning show,
I want to sit in Parliament,
In space I want to go.
I want to drive a tube train,
A cup final goal to score,
I want to be a stand up,
And I want to win a war.
I want to found a charity,
I want to write a book,
I want to play ice hockey,
And with glee I’d hit the puck.
I want to re-design a house,
I want a number one,
Enthusiasm still as strong,
Until the chance is gone.
I am enthusiastic,
And succeed perhaps I might,
But what I’m most enthusiastic,
For, is just to write!
We have the right of living,
and to speak, to stand in line and ryhme.
we all have what we believe in
about creatures, nature and time.
trees and plants grow in is season,
river, mountain, stars and moon show us the sign.
we are naives, even though the cloud tells us the meaning
that winter was drawing nigh.
we prepared for this season for a reason,
because we knew it comes between autumn/fall and spring.
every house can be cold and chilling
mama where's my jacket and socks we all sing.
oh winter oh winter.
your memory will never lost in our brain,
the winter sport is always enliven
ice hockey, snowboarding and ski sprint.
Won't sit and idly complain.
Winter sports can be fun.
Frozen pond cleared for hockey.
Excited dog eager to play.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Limerick crochetés: Once North Koreans joined South cousins
Once North Koreans joined South cousins
Agreed to let drop divisive sins
Formed one team ice-hockey
Won bronze not so lucky
Each side said: “Not for US, no side wins!”
Both sides appealed to prize committee
Some judges with none could agree:
“South on its own could win
Gold!” said Pence swilling gin
Kim Jong-un said: “No, Siree!”
“Next time round we’ll stage World Jamboree
South will pay for nukes in joint country!
Not cash but solid gold
Stand on launching pad bold
Remember who stood by US in ’53!”
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2018
Ice Skating!
Catching the early train this morning
Excitement running through my veins
Ice hockey boots over my shoulder
Running through the back streets of town
Rain pouring, hair soaking
Ice cold sleet, rain, like needles in my face.
Queuing for entry
Eager to get in
Tickets in one hand
Backpack in the other
The ice is hard just waiting for us
Glistening under spot lights
Teenage love
Always special
A time to remember
A time of fun
A time of growing
A time of love and pain
A time of making memories
Feet making figures of eight on the ice
Faster and faster
Hair whipping around my face
Speed skating, ice flying
Laughter and joy showing in my face
No thought of falling
As figures fly across the ice
A picture to hold onto for future
the memories in my head.
Ice hockey teams have their team dentist,
To put their teeth back into their head.
And crisp is a word said from the back to the front,
Of your mouth whenever it’s said.
The Sahara desert is seventy percent not sand,
And you can’t hum and whistle in time.
And the words donkey and monkey once sounded the same,
Because once they had a linguistical rhyme.
There’s a billion tonnes of ice on the moon,
And no U.S. president’s ever died in May.
Cows only have bottom teeth in their mouth,
And there’s a divorce every thirty seconds of the day.
Useless facts and trivial truths,
We use every day to seem intellectually cool.
Maybe this is what a billion years of learning has done,
Maybe we don’t even need school.
Stephen used to have sprinter Richard Whitehead,
As a team member when he did play ice hockey,
Before he became a sonar sailor, the water to wed,
In disability sport, the key was his sporting degree.
He played for the under 18 Wales rugby union team,
Because he lives in Bridgend, from Ogmore Valley,
Then he contracted meningoccal septicaemia, deem,
‘Cos this amputated his legs to make everything ok.
His ice hockey team did well coming third in Turin,
And in Athens at the World’s his team got a bronze,
Then in Beijing they came sixth in that hot condition,
But was disappointed at London by penalty neons.
They each have a yellow extension,
Sure there is much more to mention,
Each is known to do a lot to protect,
Neither is known to get much respect.
The Helmeted Hornbill lives in the trees,
Watch out because they might have fleas,
Now the other is on an ice hockey team,
And uses a yellow stick to help fulfill his dream.
As the bird uses it’s beak as a weight,
I doubt very much the player is ever late,
While we watch the bird fly and glide,
It has been great having him on our side,
They both were born in Brunei,
Watch out for the bird in the sky,
Both care very much for their mates,
Wonder if the wife can stay up on skates?
Like mother, like daughter
Like father, like son
Like uncle, like nephew
Like aunt, like niece
Like grandfather, like grandson
Like grandmother, like granddaughter
A man to a woman
A boy to a girl
A policeman to a policewoman
A deacon to a deaconess
A dog to a puppy
A cat to a kitten
A hero to a heroine
A lion to a lioness
A male to a female
A professional soccer player---------- football
A professional baseball player--------- baseball
A softball player---------- softball
A handball player--------- handball
A horse racer--------- jockey
A sport with sticks and an ice playfield--------- ice hockey
Demeter Edwards
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