If all my thoughts consumed me,
I’d be on this bench forever.
So I raise my hand and go back in
to find myself pitted against the wind.
Each play I knew by heart,
my routes were carefully selected.
The wind was always at my back
but now nothing’s as expected.
I squint to check the game clock
to find my sight blurred by years.
With odds stacking up against me,
the injustice brings me to tears.
I’ve been abandoned by the wind,
my teammate had been a spy.
Unsure of when it all will end
I look to the sidelines with a sigh.
My family has all shown up,
I fight on but am filled with shame
I promised everyone a win
But can barely get through this game.
At the half I can feel the fatigue,
surely coach has an idea I can use.
But he too has left me
to fight the wind, what happens if I lose?
I take the field angry and sad,
I’m playing scared they know,
but as the wind’s gust dulls I hear it –
my fans shout wildly, rising up, a show.
The wind now lulls in response, and
feeling the tides shift I look around,
my sideline grows ever louder still,
at last their shouts the only sound
“To be continued” I hear the referee say,
while the wind’s angry roar fills the night.
Though a draw means fights still loom ahead –
I sleep soundly, just your noise in my head.
The Dog Hair Diaries 