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@ 27.055 MHz: Ad Astra; An Athlete's Story
His athletic skills stood him in very good stead
during seventh through ninth grades---when he was
well qualified for Junior Varsity athletics,
Football, the starting quarter back. All three
years, he led his team to victory and local titles.
But for sophomore year, which, in that district, was
considered to be the entrance to High School and to
Senior Varsity athletics, his long hair, cascading
well below his shoulders, was considered a disqualification,
according to the Student Handbook For Athletes (the
1925 edition). Many of the same who criticized bis hair
length, considered me a myopic bookworm---the kid always
picked last for a team. Circumstances, in their rather
subtle way, brought us together. Now, in my parents'
backyard, we toss the football back and forth; he is
shirtless, clad in baggy jeans, and barefoot. He has
asked me to wear his class ring on a chain around my neck.
Societal expectations, and the prejudice of old prudes and
haters, should not suppress our bodies' urges, and the need to
love and be loved according to our given natures. We are
going steady, he told me, and nothing shall interfere
with that.
J-Called
What makes this genuinely
What makes this genuinely moving is the magnetic pull between two opposites who turn out to be one soul on the same journey of acceptance and fulfillment. In spite of great opposition and high-stakes disapproval, love finds a way and becomes something unbreakable, enduring, even sublime.
A tender, deeply touching story with a strong sense of place and time. Always a pleasure to read these additions to your series.
Thank you so much for
Thank you so much for understanding and validating my purposes in this poem, and in this series. A comment from you makes such an encouraging effect, and thus the sequence continues.
Starward