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"All-American Dreamings"
by Jeph Johnson
the day after my Buccaneer winnings
from the "big game" XXXVII
arrived in the form of a
$45 check in my mailbox...
(I had some friends wager
five of my bucks
on their August
Vegas vacation)
we are on the brink of a war
they are saying will incite more terror;
more "nine-elevens"
and rouse a hornet's nest
of Al-Qada cells
wielding car bombs
of bio-nuclear dirt
but the only nest I want on my mind
is the nest egg Tammy and I
are trying to establish
via an "American Dream"
that until she arrived
I never even considered
I entrusted my five dollars
with my free-and-easy
vacationing friends...
and despite all year distrusting
the Tampa Bay running game
Pittman still ran for over 100 yards!
now the woman I love
(who seems to
-until we marry and the rice is thrown-
still wonder why I do)
and I
have to waste our time
deciding if we should
encourage other's kids
(unlike many
we are waiting until
after we are married
to consider children)
to Go! Fight! Win!
this war none of us understand
or
to protest
by sending rice to Washington
so the President can
"feed our enemies"
like Jesus requested
(a funny thought
came into my head
just now
in the middle of writing this poem:
what if the people of Iraq
started shooting us
with rice bullets?
that would be funny!)
interestingly enough
Tammy didn't understand
when she first started
watching the NFL
that September Sunday
but by season's end
she had Marvin Harrison's
130-plus receptions
on her fantasy team's statistics
while recognizing Jerry Porter's
rookie brilliance
amidst Tim Brown and Jerry Rice
(more rice - how funny!)
so as I keep jotting down
thoughts that seem to continue
bouncing like a football
what are the MGM Grand odds?
(or is U.S. vs. Iraq off the board?)
