Power play

A poem of hockey & life

Day 10 of 30 Days of Poetry, Autumn 2024

Not everything is a power play:
most times the sides 
are fairly balanced,
if there are any sides
at all. 
Not everything is shootout
at the ice castle corral:
calm down. Most of it
is practice practice
practice, drill,
fall, skid,
repeat and all the
racing back and
forth, cutting grooves
into the day, to build
stamina, to develop
some kind of skill. 
When bouts don’t end 
with wins or losses 
they are guaranteed to 
deliver sweat, 
soreness, tears. 
Most experiences don’t have
a penalty box, though
maybe they should. 
It’s good to take a breather, 
to be with one’s thoughts,
to take in the play action
as it slides on by 
without you.
Perspective is needed:
we all get overheated,
not just 9 year olds.
Cuz time races on
even if you haven’t 
drawn a strategy for it,
if you are out of position,
caught offsides or 
racing to catch up,
even if you haven’t got
your skates on at all.

---

Today’s poem sends me back to my years being a hockey mom. My CT friend Angela request of poem with the word “hockey” and though this doesn’t use the word hockey, I guess it’s implied.

This poem is a tribute to those terrific hockey parents who became like family to us over those years of play. And, of course, hard-skating Isaiah.

What sport did you or your kids played that you invested a lot of time in? I’d love to hear about it.