Poem: The Coach

The Coach

He stalks the sidelines
moving back and forth,
roaming to and fro
like a big puma...
with a beer belly...
and broken-down knees…
in basketball shorts…
and a baseball hat.

He shouts out riddles,
”Pancake thirty-two
H-zap black fox right!”
It’s a silly thing
that he delivers
so seriously
like lives are at stake,
and maybe they are.

For he desperately
wants his son Connor
to play ball for State.
How he needs Connor
to play ball for State!
Because he never
got the chance to play
college ball for State.

So now you’ll find him
stalking the sidelines,
back, forth, to, and fro
like a large puma
with a beer belly
and broken-down knees
in basketball shorts
and a baseball hat.

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