National Poetry Week

In observation of National Poetry Week, I would like to share a poem about bowling. About a year ago, Reagan and I attended a service auction at our church. One of the items that I won, was a personalized poem, about any subject. I, of course, chose bowling for the topic of the poem. About a month ago, after much anticipation, I finally received the final draft of the poem. It is pretty amazing. Check it out:

Bowling Ball

for Jake Breinholt

It wobbles from the chute

to an expectant still,

blank-faced and mute

like Nature Channel chimps before they kill.

Plunged to the knuckle in each bore,

your ostrich claw

wrests it to a pose. The roar

of a near gutter steels your jaw.

The pause before the drop:

The gathering eyes

withhold reward, your forearm’s slope

the truer chart of your trajectories,

but tonight this will suffice.

A thud, a whir, the crack

of half-success. The ice

in your glass has flavor enough to soothe the lack.

– J. Scott Reynolds

Thanks again, Scott.