Wispy clouds pass like dreams
over cornfields near the shoulder
of a highway where I stand.
I have many homes, but here
in Sigourney I’m staying for the week
to control traffic in the countryside.
The farms that lie along the road
each have a story to tell,
and each day I talk to the clerk
at the hotel and show her a poem.
The clerk says she’s getting
another job at a nursing home,
and we’re drawn together
when we say we’ve both known
people who had dementia and died.
I tell her on a clear day
I can look to the south
and see the place
where the spread of fields
touches the sky.
This day, the skies grow heavy
when draped by dark clouds
and a linesman says
a storm is on the way
and I think of how fast
life can change in a matter
of hours,
but we continue to work
under a patter of rain
and later hear a tornado
formed south of us
and tore through
the north part of Missouri,
we’re saved.
After work I savor
conversations with the clerk
and the waitress in a diner
who says she’s married
and living on a farm,
the friendships I needed
while working on the road.
Categories:
linesman, adventure, friendship, metaphor, travel,
Form: Narrative
*Image of John Madden by Oakland News Now.
John Madden RIP
As an offensive linesman forms profession,
Complimenting Raiders pro football coach,
Relating coaching and playing no question,
At every game, there's a diverse approach,
After his heyday years on the field, to cam,
A front-page kinda guy, sporting the news,
His behind the cam persona clearly amuse,
Hectic tit-for-tat lifelike catchphrases bam,
Commercials, sportscasting purged midlife,
I personally knew him in his career highlife,
He knows the playbook, immortalized rock,
'Twas a subject of intrigue, animated stock,
Ere Constitution, the Word in his interviews,
It's nineteen seventy-seven Raiders streak,
Twelve consecutive victories Super Bowler,
Oakland Airport Hilton, the Raiders quarter,
As Hospitality Aficionado I smile and greet,
But now, twelve-year his calling as a coach,
Making Raiders fans proud, as all encroach,
We pay homage to the man giant than men,
A football player, coach, TV persona, friend.
2022 January 23
Categories:
linesman, character, eulogy, football, image,
Form: Epitaph
Science is my bible
N Google is my reverend
I read more than 66 books so my verses never end,
Yes I guess am a mess
And life's a game of chess,
But am too blind to check mates,
Not a fruit fan so I don't do dates,
Am a linesman,
Hoping one match is enough to make my name stick,
Mic trembles in my hands and am on the beach where time forms the sands and g strings guitar the bands,
Tryna deal with the y's that come after my ex's,
Escaping the prison where society pees on the average brain,
Fate is a ***** she gives head,
I became unusual instead,
Sleep is me pretending to be dead,
Am a creep,
My scars run deep,
How many?
Those are counts I can't keep,.
Am scared of my shadow,
So I walk in darkness.
This ends my freestyle,
Punchlines I guess I rap fiststyle And a heavy beat,
That's how I injure basic brains.
Elliepoet
Categories:
linesman, art,
Form: Free verse
In tennis, you challenge a call
If you're sure of the way that the ball
Hit the line or did not
For, what happens a lot
Is the linesman missed where it did fall.
It's like Googling somebody's "fact"
If belief in a statement you lacked.
You may prove him quite wrong
If you knew all along
That the odds in your favor were stacked.
Yet in tennis, those options are few
So if somebody's view is askew
And you've used your last chance
Then, despite your best glance
There is naught you can do but to stew.
Categories:
linesman, life, sports,
Form: Limerick
CLASH FOR CALM
What an ugly day for the
linesman,
walking with the mind,sleeping for days to
run;
For the tent is to the Cyber,yet,rolling the unexplained.
Miles while clash for calm,and cluster when the
day grows rosy;
For in with shabby act,when hardship set-in her very act
And handy work shows for determination.
As when dicey but occupying a space to hold her thought.
It was hard;it's hard
For the linesman to eat,eating with carried
Mind;
For the chant are of chaos:holding the legs while her basket clamour for
crops of the produce,
Basket for all;when the produce's harvested.
Tonight the clash must calm;
For the occupant has arrived,in fullness, strength
And fulfilling her worth:to order the queen glory for cry
To cry with an asthmatic mind:filled with slump of life
Life for all,when the clash has come to calm.
28/06/2003(8:10pm)
Categories:
linesman, sad
Form: Epic