Hockey Saves Lives

I was nine going on ten when my life turned upside down,

I felt nothing mattered to me and felt so alone.

Comfort came from an unexpected place,

In the form of the sport of hockey,

My parents despised my obsession with it,

That only made me like it more.

Watching players skate across the ice,

The fierceness in their eyes,

Having confidence while in possession of the puck,

Less confident without it.

It proved to suffice to my knowledge,

One day I would have that puck,

Be in control, that I had a fight to win.

Watching them hustle back in forth,

Like waterfalls rivers and streams,

Chasing after the big win of their dreams,

Or perhaps like thoughts in the mind,

Needing that reverie, that escape.

How hockey could be that for me,

Pull me from the wreckage, the flotsam

Of a sinking ship or rescue me from the rubble,

That the earthquake of life causes.

The subtle moments of laughter,

Like the much needed breaks we are after,

For whichever team we choose to like,

It offers a unity, a bond, a language,

A fun rivalry and allegory as we all chase our dreams,

The way they chase the puck.

Win or lose, it is the journey that matters,

The comfort that striving to be the best,

Not to seem the best by deceit,

Makes watching hockey like being carried

To the heavens and feeling divinity calm you,

Like a blanket on a cold night,

Or a cup of drink on a hot day.