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I'm glad to see this thread revived! Just this past weekend, while watching some college football, I became engrossed in the slow motion replay of a QB fumble and the scramble that ensued to recover the ball. Unfortunately I didn't stick with the poem as it was coming through me so it remains incomplete. I will try to go back today and finish it. I guess you could say I fumbled the poem.
Michael, Mohammed Ali is an icon of my childhood. My friends and I were peaceful pot smokers but when it came to Ali we were all in. He was a pot smoker's dream, watching him. He was a poet. Whether it was in the ring or on Dick Cavett trading barbs with Frazier or on the debate stage going toe-to-toe with philosophers, thinkers. I think he did more to advance human rights with his words and actions via civil rights than maybe even MLK.
Your poem is classic. The last stanza is heart wrenching. The first stanza blasphemy to the cancel culture. The middle stanza a great pan of the man who could not be beat. Except that he was. By the dark side of the very thing that made him invincible. Great stuff. I've got to make a note to buy your books.
Ralph, your personal story of living up to expectations through sport is one that I remember well. Tennis was ruined for me because of being pushed beyond what I as a 10-12 year old could bear. I was good. I wasn't competitive.
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