Match
Rivaling the other
The heat if feels like no other
Yesterday we were brothers
Today you’re just another
Another player another layer
To this already bulky thick blanket
This blanket of heat i tear off the sheet
To play on concrete is like no other feat
My feet they burn, they cringe they’re sore
But I wish to play well it’s at my very core
A burning desire hotter than this asphalt floor
Poor i grew up
But older now i yearn for that Cup
Over and over i was told ‘shut up’ we cant afford lessons
I fought i begged, i used all aggression
But not to vandalize to terrorize to burn
i channeled this flame , this here was the turn
Pointing to the sun my flame it grew bigger
It was now time, i knew i had to pull that trigger
Chasing the sun, up the hill through the heat
The summer it swelled it showed on my feet
Each day I’d make the trek up the hill through the heat
On my bike i’d hear a shrill from some crazy dude Pete
Up the hill through the heat, still chasing my sun
My flames they grew bigger
‘You’re crazy its August! go play in the pool!’
I heard this daily yonder, and was tempted to ponder
The pools, lakes the pond I yearned for the break
And once in a while I would, I’d dip do a little shake
Shake off the water, at it again
Hop on my bike it was time to dive in
Dive in to the match the game the competition
For tennis is my love, my inner flame the heat
This here is admission
This heat was my fuel i did not own a car
All i needed was my passion, lessons werent
Too terribly far
Me and my bike, 5 days a week
To the court i’d crunch, sometimes skip out on lunch
My mom would call me in ‘its time to eat to sleep!’
I cant mom not yet! I am taking a leap
A leap of faith a leap over the pond
A leap across the lily pad
I never met my dad
But my mom did her best, she was raising us two
‘Mom i wish to make you proud there’s a hole in my shoe’
This hole it shines it’s a badge
For all my summer’s hard work
Around the corner the bullies did lurk
They sneered they jeered they to this day bully
But never completely did i know them fully
I was doing tennis it was and is my life
I never felt the need to carry a Swiss army knife
My bike it was defense, my overall abstinence
From bullies , but not bullfrogs, i always made time
For play in the thick summer air
These times they were rare
But play i would with the bullfrogs n the lily pads
I’d hop skip n jump , n often wonder bout me dad
Whats he like would he be proud? It ignited
a flame
i wanted to shout loud
‘Dad where are you i want you to see me play!’
I’d often think day to day
But with my mom by my side, my hero that cant
be denied
I shied from the bullies stayed clear stayed on track
This to myself i made a pact
A pact to shine , i want this sun i want it to be known
Never did i wake up to lessons with any kind of groan
For i was thankful, i was on scholarship, my kind coach
He reared me he honed my skill
it blocked out crazy Pete’s shrill
Over the hill and through the woods
To my homemade pyrotechnics
My goal to set the court on fire in this
summer heat ignited by my desire
Desire to win desire to play
Desire to survive
My match it awaits
As does my fishin baits
and match i will this heat so long as Earth
lets me stay on my feet
this urban jungle can prove faulty
so thirsty i’d even drink the ocean salty
But this is the day the time the moment
since i could walk ive always been hell bent
hell bent on winning on championships this fire
this heat the flames i endure them i swim in them
the flaming august is my stake at which i burn
i refuse to repeat any past mistakes i cont to learn
Joan of Arc i will burn i will flame
a martyr i since have become for this very game
© Tara Bowen, 2014
Chopped Onion 