Book Two

Boys

Picked up 

Towels, rolled with 

Jockstraps, t-shirts,

Socks at counter, walked

Onto basketball court 

Where tables held equipment.


Zeus

Sent Dream 

To whisper 

False promises 

To Agamemnon 

Of Troy's defeat, Hera's 

Supplication had been heard. 


New

Football 

Coach entered

Locker room with

Fifth form transfer star,

Suited up quarterback,

Recruited from public schools.


Boys

Sized their 

Football cleats,

Jerseys, pants, grabbed 

Shoulder pads, helmets;

Sized soccer cleats, jerseys, 

Shorts; running shoes, tank tops, shorts.


Grieves 

Fastened,

Corselets 

Girded, swords slung

Across shoulders, shields

Lifted high, helmets set

Upon heads, readied for fight.


Blue

Blood son,

Long presumed

Next varsity 

Football quarterback,

Tossed on worn t-shirt, shorts,

For private, weight room workout.


Boys

Unrolled

Towels, pulled up 

One size jockstraps,

Topped with last year's, clean 

Cross country, soccer kit,

Brand new, football uniforms.


Path

Of war

Sent off course 

When Achaians 

Threatened to set sail,

Athena spoke, convinced 

Odysseus to remain.


Head

Of school 

Athletics

Tracked down his spurned

Player lifting weights,

Counseled patience: early

Season would not define end.


Boys

Swarmed down

Grass slopes to

Football, soccer

Fields together, told 

By coaches to run laps, 

They split off into factions. 


Tribes

Marshaled

By leaders,

Each with godlike

Lineage, some spear

Famed, some skilled with bow, drawn

From fertile vineyards, grain fields.


By

Rear door,

Director 

Overheard pep

Talk between new coach 

And quarterback as they

Walked down for start of practice.


Team

Drilled in 

Defensive,

Offense basics,

Plays executed 

From kickoff to touchdown,

Passing, tackling, and trick plays.


When

Trojans 

Squared off with 

Achaians, wife

Poacher, Paris, spied

Husband, Menelaus,

Pulled back, Hektor called him out.


On

Crest of 

Soccer field, 

Black and white balls 

Spun, levitated;

Cross country runners looped

Around upper mountain course. 


New

Coach, new

Quarterback 

Changed assignments:

Varsity offense

Headed to defense; back

Bench took their offense slots.


Fight 

Stopped by 

Hektor when

Alexandros 

Proposed one on one

Fight with Menelaus,

Survivor would claim Helen.


Fall

Schedule 

Reviewed, school

Faced each week fixed

Over decades by

Athletic directors 

To build supporter suspense.







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