Posted on Facebook by Vancouver poet & spoken-word artist Shane Koyczan.
Quote:
We have no hockey sticks to put outside, so I wrote this:
Hockey Family
We were a hockey family
though we rarely
watched the games
it hardly mattered
we could hear
the neighbors next door
every time their team scored
every time their goalie
made the kind of save
the world needs right now
you could tell what was happening
through bass and treble
bass was the sound of the other guys pulling ahead
treble was the sound of our guys
catching up
you can hear the sound hope makes
when a hockey game is played
and we are a hockey family
having driven through
small Canadian towns
who have little more than a bus load of dreams
and a gas station for the Zamboni
we are a hockey family despite having rarely played
we remember the welt
the slap shot made
so thick it looked like it would never leave
we remember thinking
some of us
are meant for dice and trivia
some of us are too soft
for ice, wood, steel
and the kind of speed
that makes those things dangerous
some of us take the hits
some of us watch the hits being taken
some of us hear our neighbors weep through walls meant to cage the agony of loss
but we all
swallow our breath
in respect of the pain
we all know
it hurts
we are a hockey family.
Shane L. Koyczan
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