Five For Fighting
Note:
Fighting is an established aspect of ice hockey in North America. The rulebook
of the National Hockey League contains specific rules for fighting. These rules
state that at the initiation of a fight, both players must drop their sticks so
as not to use them as a weapon. Players must also “drop” or shake off their
protective gloves in order to fight bare-knuckled (essentially “throwing down
the gauntlet”). Officials punish combatants with five-minute major penalties
for fighting (hence the phrase “five for fighting”). —Wikipedia.
The
early Christians
Often
mentioned
Their
opposition
To
the Roman games:
To
the blood sport
Of
the gladiators,
And
to the lions untamed
As
they tore into the torsos
Of
the enslaved and condemned
To
satisfy and pacify
The
crowd’s every whim.
(It
was considered a sin.)
And
on occasion,
The
coliseum was even flooded
For
boats to battle each other
On
man-made waves.
Only
God knows how many perished
In
the blood and mud and fire
Of
that spectacular, theatrical age!
And
yet,
Here
I am today
Cheering
my own cherished gladiators
On
a more contemporary stage…
A
stage of unforgiving ice
That
shows blood nicely.
The
players’ skates are slicing across the rink
As
they go dashing down the length
Of
bright white to struggle in the corner
For
the vulcanized rubber puck.
And
as their sticks flash like swords
And
they crash into the boards
This
game of both talent and luck
Brings
me to my feet,
Screaming
bloody murder.
(I’m
a good Christian man,
Born
of a good Christian mother.)
But
I’m also an unrepentant fan
Of
this incredible display
Of
courage and skill…
What
can I say?
For
when the teeth go flying
And
it’s five for fighting,
I’m
right there with the crowd
Chanting
kill, kill, kill!
When Wonder Turns To Praise
For this is
an experience which is characteristic of a philosopher,
this
wondering: this is where philosophy begins and nowhere else.
--Plato, Theaetetus.
But Mary
treasured all these words
and pondered
them in her heart.
The Gospel of Luke, 2:19.
A mother
must be made
of much more
than mere maternity
to birth a child
so adored
and enamored of eternity.
For the Holy Ghost
made the Lord of Hosts
a temple inside your womb
and when you said “Yes”
the angels confessed
that the devil’s reign was doomed.
No one expected so much
from one so small…
-Holy Theotokos-
full of grace. We
ponder
the wonder
of it all.
Bio: Among other things, Daniel is the lead singer/lyricist for the indie rock band, Mining for Rain , and a member of the Colorado Poets Center. His full-length poetry collection, A Poet Playing Doctor , will be released in the fall of 2015 by Alabaster Leaves Publishing. To learn more, visit: http://about.me/dklawitter
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