.JPG)
[let me tell you a story:]
I sat on a bench watching bodies crash.
But when the time came to chase,
I only ever played touch. So when
we
pulled into the huddle,
My teammates said, “Rush! Man,
you're being too subtle.”
I said, “What if I make the
wrong play?” “Look,
they'll take the tackle
as praise anyway.”
“But isn't a
tackle a mad,
heavy thing?”
“No:
a tackle just
says, 'Hi –
you're
worth
tackling.'”
I don't watch American football much, or talk about it ever. So some of my terminology may be off. (I wanted to say 'pigskin' to sound all in-crowd, but the opportunity just never presented itself … and again, I never chased after it too hard).
ReplyDelete*Thanks to Danny Lyon (Helmet & Dominoes), Julie (shoving sport), pic-of-the-week (penguin weigh-in), and Les (Jellies) for making this collage full.
**Definition time - 4 relational choices:
ReplyDeleteOur romantic read on others is a blend of moral, social, and physical compatibility.
(Level of awareness, concern, collective forethought, and attentive action constitute morality – if you notice the poor and he doesn't, you ask how sick friends are doing and she doesn't, you worry about global warming and he doesn't, you put spiders outside and she likes killing them … moral disparity;
Intellectual curiosity, sociability, language use and active interests constitute the social – if you like to discuss mechanics/philosophy and she likes to talk at surface level, if you like to stay at home quietly and he wants to explore a room of strangers, if you are habitually sarcastic and he is plainspoken, if you like to run and jump and go to art galleries while she likes to play card games and watch game shows – social incompatibility;
Looks, bodily features, mannerisms, and athleticism constitute the physical – if she has that snobbish-looking upturned nose and you have that maddening lazy eye, she has those too-skinny arms and you have that gag-inducing oversized Adam's apple, she has tense-looking shoulders and you have a lazy-looking slouch back, she's too muscular for you and you're too soft for her – physical incompatibility.)
Either:
A) you find them unattractive on all or most apparent fronts,
B) you're copacetic on all/most apparent fronts – but usually with one deal-breaking front, or no outstanding front.
C) you find them more compatible than an average person on some/most apparent fronts
D) you find them impressively well-suited on most/all apparent fronts
If you find D, you're probably deluding yourself – but every once in a while, you're not. Here's hoping that you find one … and that you're not their A. ~ :)
This is a very interesting poem to me, as it talks about something I never really think about: football. However, even though I am very removed from the sport itself, this poem has deeper meaning than just the nerves of someone about to play the game. It is about how the game itself is played, both football and life in general. As you state in the poem “a tackle just / says, 'Hi – / you're / worth / tackling.'” I interpret this to mean that while something may seem mean or aggressive, in reality, it is a compliment. This is because you are singling out that person (or thing) from everything else. There is something about that person that makes them special and makes them stand out. In general, a tackle is used to stop someone from doing something harmful to the other team, and this is also a compliment of sorts. That player is strong enough to have been noticed as a threat, and the tackle is a recognition of this strength. In life we “tackle” those that we are threatened by, or those that we want to be challenged by. While it may seem like a show of aggression, challenging a specific person is simply an expression of appreciation for their competitive qualities and should be taken as a compliment.
ReplyDeleteWell-read.
DeleteI'm not much for the watching of football, either ... but I can imagine the daunting social climate ;)