Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Scaling


Once they’re hooked
Beginners start to browse the uniforms
Coveting their own clean whites
A pristine mask
Unwrinkled glove

I also sense them
Shopping for appropriate ambitions
Trying on their goals and
Testing fit

That’s a beauty of our sport
Each of us can find a dream that’s
Comfortably beyond our normal reach
But not beyond our grasp

Some aim for the top while others
Strive with all they have to
Make a touch in every bout

Some scale the alphabet while teammates
Revel in their classless state
Youngsters spurt and test the limits of their
Ambling limbs their
Newfound strength
Veterans retrench and renegotiate the
Definition of success

Some drift away despite their magic touch, their
Grace—unfulfilled by their unearned success
Others struggle now and evermore
Addicted by the lure of what they never quite achieve
But might, the next time out

The lesson? If you find your joy in battle turning to frustration
Look within—the cure may lie in tweaking expectations

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Recalibration


I can no longer keep a
Warrior’s pace
Always pushing past my limitations
Sore and tired but
Content, confident that
Pain is only strength in embryonic form

The signals have been switched the
Rules upended, now my
Lexicon is speaking ancient tongues

An ache or sore is warning that my
Shelf life is exceeded, boundaries o’er-reached
Reminder that my expiration date is, damn,
Too close

I am no longer over-engineered
But merely overwhelmed

My homework? Studying the
Tensile strength of aging tendons, pinpointing the
Threshold past which quintile muscles cannot go
Learning leisured speed and lazy durability
Recognizing that I can’t outrun the young