Winning+isn't+Everything



Winning isn’t Everything

[|Biography Diane Ackerman]

On the face of this midfielder,

a saint’s passion.

Sweat brilliantines his hair

flat as a seal pup’s fur.

Thorns rake one knee, and fatigue

is a train whistle that never quits.

In his mind, the falcon of defeat

slip off its own hood

and sails into the vapory cold December,

hangs like a crucifixion over the field,

then slants down the wide thermal

of his shame. Today 2 + 2 is algebra,

and nothing will transmute

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">his base metal to gold leaf.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">When crowd and players have gone,

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">he watches the sun set

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">under a tumultuous bruise of sky,

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">below the empty grin of the bleachers,

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">deep into the valley,

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">a ghastly, yellow bile draining out.

a perfumed hair oil ||
 * **brilliantine**

to change or transform || //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Poem sourced from: // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mahoney, B. (2009). //Poetry Reloaded.// Melbourne, VIC: Cambridge University Press //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Photo sourced from: //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|http://photos.igougo.com]
 * **transmute**
 * //<span style="color: #010000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Dianne Ackerman //**