poem

 Icing

Sometimes you get tired of having to defend

Yourself from a ceaseless onslaught of attack.

Get the puck and chuck it to the other end;

Catch your breath, clear the slate,

A momentary reprieve before the pressure comes back.

I want to find a lake with ice ten feet thick

Surrounded by hills studded with pines,

Away from all the things I hate:

Creases, cross checks, red lines, blue lines.

Give me a frozen void where I can just skate.

12/5/20