Resurgence
Mar. 1st, 2010 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pjthompsonMy one and only poem having to do with hockey.
From the notebooks, April 10, 1981:
Resurgence
They in the stands have never known
the lumbering wild across the ice
in pursuit of a small black disk,
almost lost amongst the boots and blades.
They do not know the thrill of crashing
and thrashing sticks in a rapid weave of air,
the reaching beyond breath and muscle,
the yearning towards the goal, the burn of ice
if any skin should touch, the taste of exertion
rolling down the face and onto the lips.
They have never known the pride, determination,
the struggle or the victory. They know only
that his skin is black, and knowing that
all other knowledge stops.
Just as time has stopped and reversed: it is 1952,
but instead of jeers and hate on the baseball diamond,
it is the ice that is consumed with rage.
I'm ashamed to say that I'm not precisely sure which player I wrote this poem about. I'm pretty sure it was Tony McKegney who in the late 70's tried to break into pro hockey playing for the Birmingham Bulls in Alabama for the now-defunct WHA (World Hockey Association). He faced a great deal of racist catcalls, booing, and harassment whenever he took to the ice there. He did make his way in the NHL eventually, but he was traded rather more frequently then his proficiency at scoring would suggest was warranted. I'll leave it to others to decide why that might be.
The poem was inspired when I saw a feature on the national nightly news and was shocked by the abuse. I thought that we'd progressed "beyond all that." I've lived a little longer now and have learned that we as a country (or a species, to be perfectly frank) rarely progress "beyond all that" for long (substitute whatever you like for "all that"). Tolerance is not a hallmark of humankind. I'm still sad, disheartened, and embarrassed when I see people behaving like this, and shocked at the lack of civility and basic human decency, but, sadly, I'm no longer shocked that "this sort of thing" is still happening.
Saying no to intolerance and educating/silencing the thugs requires eternal vigilance of us. But it's a good fight, a very good fight.
From the notebooks, April 10, 1981:
Resurgence
They in the stands have never known
the lumbering wild across the ice
in pursuit of a small black disk,
almost lost amongst the boots and blades.
They do not know the thrill of crashing
and thrashing sticks in a rapid weave of air,
the reaching beyond breath and muscle,
the yearning towards the goal, the burn of ice
if any skin should touch, the taste of exertion
rolling down the face and onto the lips.
They have never known the pride, determination,
the struggle or the victory. They know only
that his skin is black, and knowing that
all other knowledge stops.
Just as time has stopped and reversed: it is 1952,
but instead of jeers and hate on the baseball diamond,
it is the ice that is consumed with rage.
I'm ashamed to say that I'm not precisely sure which player I wrote this poem about. I'm pretty sure it was Tony McKegney who in the late 70's tried to break into pro hockey playing for the Birmingham Bulls in Alabama for the now-defunct WHA (World Hockey Association). He faced a great deal of racist catcalls, booing, and harassment whenever he took to the ice there. He did make his way in the NHL eventually, but he was traded rather more frequently then his proficiency at scoring would suggest was warranted. I'll leave it to others to decide why that might be.
The poem was inspired when I saw a feature on the national nightly news and was shocked by the abuse. I thought that we'd progressed "beyond all that." I've lived a little longer now and have learned that we as a country (or a species, to be perfectly frank) rarely progress "beyond all that" for long (substitute whatever you like for "all that"). Tolerance is not a hallmark of humankind. I'm still sad, disheartened, and embarrassed when I see people behaving like this, and shocked at the lack of civility and basic human decency, but, sadly, I'm no longer shocked that "this sort of thing" is still happening.
Saying no to intolerance and educating/silencing the thugs requires eternal vigilance of us. But it's a good fight, a very good fight.
An excellent fight.
Date: 2010-03-02 01:46 am (UTC)Re: An excellent fight.
Date: 2010-03-02 05:18 pm (UTC)