And All the Stadiums Were the Same

Outside the fence you could still hear the crowd,
Their susurration interrupted only by whistles and the country boy voice of the announcer booming like a wounded bird from the stadium speakers,
As they plowed into each other, and the bystanders rejoiced at some choice display of gallantry on field of play

But you could fade the sounds away as you walked from the bleachers, the lights also pooling more quietly behind you, spilled like water clinging desperately to the ground, with miles of endless dark around
In the countryside, 
Where teenage dreams screamed like engines down country roads, some divinity to dare,
Where lust lived and died like summer thunderstorms, chased by the grip of winter wind

In the first grasp of autumn, the Southern grass turned yellow and hard with frost
Bodies gasping at the sudden cold
In West Blocton, Wedowee, Chelsea, and Pleasant Grove
The places changed, the scene remained the same:
The gravel parking lots, the hot chocolate, the chain-linked fence,
The high school penance, as we paraded, nearly apologizing for ourselves, to make our way through the world  

There’s the courage of warriors and of poets, and each faces its dragons
And we were battle-swept, each of us, and armored
Taking the long walk past all, so full of longing as to come undone

Every age has its promenades
Its way of creating time and space for ceremony, for masquerade
And sport, to prove our worth
And we were all there to find our birth 

For a moment I would wonder what would happen if I wandered away, 
Scaled the fields and just walked, into the night 
The sound of the game would fade like unwelcome day, the harsh white light crowding out the sky would suddenly grow dark 

But then my mom would say “Let’s go, come on,” and we’d get in the car and turn the heater on
The night both merciless and kind, and endless on every side
As a thousand eyes burned from the sky, full of curse or grace
The whole earth breathing
With a thousand arenas ahead of us
A thousand journeys yet to face