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WAR STORIES FROM THE GOLF PRO |
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dream not that you do the deed of the killer, dream not the power to command the deed. —Bhagavad-Gita (for T. Tarkington) |
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"Yeah, I'm proud of the birdies, "I'm proud of the eagles I've earned "and proud of the bogies I've shot; but, I tell you, it was real; I thought I should've died that day on the beach When I chipped one from the seaside— Such a beautiful arc it had made— They almost blew me away. He's built his whole life around that day. Eighteen—all he was thinkin' was holes. Man it was rough in the tall rangy grass. Hunched over a drink, rounds still zip in his head; And nightly relives them when he should be in bed. Has his balls displayed on the mantel— They're there so you'll ask him; he'll tell Where he earned each, for which part of hell, How he'd been there and back—got the tee— And the trophy, how he'd've won it, if only He hadn't have choked on his woody Like some damned amateur's caddy. Well, he's got dimpled balls that tell his story, They're scarred with iron and wet with sweat, Whereas some never acknowledge their guilt Nor their failures in sandtraps and boonies— Some'll never come back from their boogies, With clubs in the corner they'll slowly forget. Yeah, I remember the Beach. Pebble Beach was a bitch. © John Horváth Jr |
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Commentary: "War Stories From the Golf Pro" as other poems I've written evolves from observation. Each of us knows the braggart, the fisherman whose catch is larger than, the warrior whose battle is more dangerous, the golfer whose holes-in-one are more often. The poem was written for a poetry slam in Mississippi; its victim was a local poet who often told stories of his Vietnam experience and of his finesse at golfing. The subjects blended; the form is also a blend which began with traditional stanza forms that were revised for syllable count, then revised for line length, then revised to blend stanzas about the war and stanzas about golfing. I call this "ruptured rhythm" in honor of "sprung rhythm" which is longer discussed by poets and critics. John Horváth Jr Bonfire contributor |