Diesel Denson at the Podium

by David Solway (August 2015)

Best off-tackle rusher in the history

of the Conference, he’s come to receive

the chronicled prize of the hero

at home in his heavy-traffic medium.

Cat-magic keeps him on his feet

in the midst of gang-tackling anarchy,

keeps him going when all are convinced

the play’s broken and is going nowhere.

The big defensive ends chop at his knees,

linebackers dive for his ankles,

cornerbacks zero in from behind—

still he’s up and running, lugging the ball

like a lump of pig-iron, moving the yardsticks

down the contested field

toward new lines of scrimmage, powering 

through the twenty-third book of the Iliad.

Now, approaching the podium

for the token an epic ferocity claims,

taking the game in his stride,

poised in the dignity of performance,

he knows it all comes down to

the consummate art of balance-in-season,

receiving the unfired cauldron with grace.

And the Achaians applaud with reason.
 

___________________________________________

David Solway is a Canadian poet and essayist. His forthcoming volume of poetry, Installations, will be released this fall from Signal Editions. A partly autobiographical prose manifesto, Reflections on Music, Poetry and Politics, is slated for later this year with Ansthruther Press. A CD of his original songs, Blood Guitar and Other Tales, appeared last summer. Solway’s current projects include work on a second CD with his pianist wife Janice and writing for the major American political sites such as PJ Media, FrontPage Magazine, American Thinker and WorldNetDaily.  

To comment on this poem, please click here.

To help New English Review continue to publish original poetry such as this, please click here.