Substitute Rugby
Substitute Rugby
by Patrick Yurick (2010)
“With screaming vengeance!”
The coach had ordered us.
left foot right foot and steam train ahead
Dainty painted toes covered in bruises.
Grass stains and sweat.
Equity never did taste right, did it?
Falling back with different pressures
I know that pleasure is in the back
No more sour coffee and stomach pains.
No more comfortable embrace.
Two hours ago the woman in the mirror started crying,
“Where are you going?”
She wiped dark mascara stains.
A dark shadow was left in the corner of the room,
an outline smelled of the pacific and blood.
Keep it down, be a man.
Toughen up. Tie the laces.
Today begins with twice as much work
Today is where we all find time to watch
The substitute rugby game is underway.
I want to write this morning. It is Saturday morning. I google the word “Peace” and looked through the images titled under “Labeled for commercial reuse and modification”. This image struck me. I decided to challenge myself to write something about it. This poem came from that. I imagined these women being ones left home during WW2 and starting their own soccer league. (Much in the vain of “A League of their Own“)
