We watched our granddaughter Ava play her last official soccer game…
Her final season as a goalie is complete…
It’s one of those milestones in life we consider bittersweet.
Since we were 37 years old
we’ve been watching our children and grandchildren play soccer…
and now we’re 72!
Which means, with Ava heading off to college next year…
after 35 years…our time on the soccer sidelines is through.
We watched them play in the Florida heat…some misty rains
and an occasional thunderstorm…
We watched them play in winter when it was impossible to get warm.
We wanted them to see us…to know anytime our paths crossed…
We would be there on the sidelines cheering…
when they won…and when they lost..
We wanted them to know…as along the sidelines we would stroll…
that being a part of their lives has always been our goal.
For 35 years on the sidelines…it’s been a privilege watching them grow…
and as this era comes to an end…there’s something else we’d like them to know:
As you switch from the game of soccer to the game of life…
as children and grandchildren are wont to do…
when you need us…look to the sidelines…
we‘ll be there cheering for you.
Categories:
sidelines, family,
Form: Rhyme
I'm going to sit this one out,
find a cave,
on a hill to watch from,
maybe a big old oak tree,
just sit under it
lean on its broad trunk,
watch the freak show.
The battle can rage in the valley below.
I don't care who wins,
it will be some rat bastard,
some pimp of a politician.
The White House lawn
will be littered with slain goblins
and elves
Of course, I will honor the memory
of this grim ballyhoo
with a patriotic poem,
I will read it from the balcony
with all the other assholes.
For now though
it seems more important
and more pressing
to shat in the woods.
Categories:
sidelines, poetry,
Form: Free verse
sitting on the fence
taking up permanent residence
because you like the view
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Categories:
sidelines, future, life, time,
Form: Free verse
Stick With It
The going can get tough
And life itself is rough
Don’t chomp at the bit
Stick with it
The world can be mean
A lot of changes in the scene
Don’t chomp at the bit
Stick with it
Prayers are never heard
People are absurd
Don’t chomp at the bit
Stick with it
You get no more than yes
At the why’s you have to guess
Don’t chomp at the bit
Stick with it
In life you just don’t quit
On the sidelines, please don’t sit
Don’t chomp at the bit
Stick with it
Life has twists and turns
And we have to be concerned
Don’t chomp at the bit
Stick with it
Celine Rose Mariotti
Categories:
sidelines, life, prayer, world,
Form: Rhyme
Deep down, it feels very cold.
I let it out.
Endless exhaustive words.
I embrace it. Live it.
Cry it.
I need an anchor. Hold me down.
Tell me this is not another fleeting feeling.
But I know the answer. Just like you do.
I read it on your face even before you said it. I ran away.
And got back wanting to change it.
I let it cut through like a knife.
Watching an already scarred soul
Bleed once more.
Yet I know it is always but my fault
The imperfection that I can't fix
Or would never ask you to live with
Cause you deserve so much more.
I weep quietly, and write to you
Then detach. For once and all.
I shall never feel you again.
I see the dimming city lights
From high up the tower and I look at him.
What a beautiful night. And he treats me so right.
Yet I miss us walking some random alley
Down there. Sharing our fearless dreams.
A strange perfection amidst the chaos that bonded us.
Even if that was so short lived.
You'll see me someday smiling. And winning the world.
Or may be failing. And falling down.
But from the sidelines.
Categories:
sidelines, beauty, farewell,
Form: I do not know?
Being cool isn't like
anything else
in the world.
Except for
in love
with your dream girl.
Why does the world demands—
everyone to be cool?
I want to be cool—
I will do it
on my terms.
I am cool—
by watching the world go on
being on the sidelines.
Categories:
sidelines, angst, how i feel,
Form: Free verse
Hope is hated when wasted on naught
When energy is drained by strained excitement
And when at last realization strikes
The ostensible happiness dissipates into despair
Doubt sweeps over as cruel fact
As others see a decrepit smile
Sovereign frowns reign from within
Embarrassment embraces prickling the skin
Hands don’t know where to go
Body and mind began to slow
I see him walk past me
Not even a glance of acknowledgement
Nostalgia and shame as one smother
Why would I expect him to remember?
Why should I expect him to even bother?
Things change but emotion remains
Something else stays . . . it is unexplained
I try not to look his way anymore
Without a speck of hope left
But eyes flee and lightly brush against him
He doesn’t seem to care
So why should I be here?
Questions torment and turn into declarative despair
There is no more time for him and me
So I’ll stay on the sidelines
Can’t say I won’t be hurt there
Categories:
sidelines, absence,
Form: Free verse
Standing on the sidelines
watching the endless fight.
the anger inside you
always burning bright.
It never seems to end
its like your own sick game
but like usual
im the one to blame
Im never good enough
thats what you always say
treat me like im special
please just for a day
i want to run away!
Categories:
sidelines, depression,
Form: Free verse
when one thinks about the truth
go down the cave of
love are called angular
rivers across the landscape of the resistance
we know the existence of happiness is
not an impulse in
yourself or a mourning of
the absolute risk with the
air cleared up visions of our heaven
comes off the stand and the wild boar of Tempt
the defendant wishes to be the one to do revolutionary
thinkers tie on the sidelines of balance
Categories:
sidelines, inspirational
Form: I do not know?
On the Sidelines
by Rick Rucker
On the sidelines do you stand,
When you should grab Life by the Hand?
Are you a participant,
Or do you say, "No, I really can't?"
If you leave living 'til too late,
Will you start at the Pearly Gate?
Will St. Peter just say "Tsk'"
Because you never took a risk?
Did you never take a fall,
'Cause you were afraid to risk it all?
I don't think you're really Living,
Life gives back but what you're Giving!
Categories:
sidelines, inspirational
Form: Couplet
A dysfunctional family
Always yelling
Fights breaking out
But there can be no telling
The mother sits
Acts as if nothing is going on
Watches blood spilt on the carpet
But the marriage goes on
The father is in it
Finds a reason to investigate
Shots questions off
And looks like an ape
The eldest has had his turn
Beating upon his brothers
Turned against him and gets into the brawl
Watching his blood spilt on the carpet
The step has his freedom
No blood, groubeatings
Watches from the sidelines
Glad to have his cockiness without anything
The next one down
Has seen his share of fights
No blood for him either
But some unnerving nights
The smallest has understood
But cannot decide what he should do
Does he go with standing up
Or go with the cockiness too
While the three yearn to yell
They cannot fore he is the only one they have
The mom is so happy and they will not yell
Secrets will come one day to tell the fights they gave
Categories:
sidelines, family, father, sad,
Form: Free verse
I've tried so hard to solve the problem
but this machine isn't stoppin
The motion has been set
and the time has not been spent
I know I could have stopped
I could have cought my heart instead of watching it drop
Now I wait on a bed of nails
And every beat causes another impale
I could have predicted the end
I was just to busy thinking of ways to begin
Wipe away the tears
and face your fears
Cause tonight we live in a different light
and nothing can change my mind
Categories:
sidelines, angst, lost love, passion,
Form: I do not know?