Sudden Death

Painting by Charles Lasansky

Sudden Death


Down past the tracks in the tin shack
where the television keeps the walls
breathing, my father dreams of 1956

and the field goal he missed in the snow,
ball bouncing off the upright, falling
back to the tattered couch where my father throws
a spiral across the room, suspended

between the sound of a glass thrown
and a glass shattering against the corner.
My father roaring past the fourth quarter
like a train

leaving a lover behind, stands eagle-armed
on the platform, whistling for God and 1956
to pick him up, carry him on their shoulders.


Sherman Alexie........from the Business of Fancydancing