Image: A Knock-out (here)
At their heyday all champions hogged the limelight
Muhammad Ali defeated Liston, Foreman, and Bugner
Ali was remembered by the losers’ names in their fights
Losers otherwise shoved into oblivion a nameless fighter
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Hingis, Sharapova were champs
The Williams sisters and many more greats before and after
But for the runners-up, no one cared and none to be reckoned
Out by the wayside into the bins of history for good measure
The call not just to win but to ‘compete was more important’
A coach’s classic excuse more of a convenient morale booster
And relevant to be repeated all the time in training sessions
Obviously for champions though it would not hold water
Magaly's at PU's Poetry Pantry - pantry-
of-poetry-and-prose-9-goodbye
I am remember when I was about eight, we were watching wrestling or boxing on tv when one of the fighters got his head stuck in the ropes, one rope on each side of his head so he was strangling. The upper rope was under his chin and somehow the lower rope was up behind his neck. I dont remember what happened next, but hopefully they got him loose right away.
ReplyDeleteWell articulated. (I have very mixed feelings about the whole competitive thing.)
ReplyDeleteWonderfully written Hank.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.