Fall 2016Prepare to PlayThe day
of the first
school game,
the
team
marches
down
the
halls
together,
loud with laughter,
matching jerseys
filling their faces with triumph,
applause around them
as they prepare to play
while
I
flatten
my
b
o
d
y
against the lockers,
moving
out of their way.
All I can think
is
if I was on the team,
I wouldn’t
be
invisible.
StadiumIt seems like everyone in
Chesterton
comes to the first game,
the silver and red colors of
our Bulldogs
streaked on hundreds of faces,
wide smiles,
spirits high,
arms waving,
loud voices
in the stands
chanting the
school spirit song,
the barely fall breeze of September
flowing around us.
It takes
only one quarter
for everyone to realize
our team isn’t going to win.
Austin’s tosses fall shorter,
Coach’s yells get louder,
and the
number of fans
in the stands
gets
smaller.
I feel like I’m rewatching
last Sunday’s game,
rewatching Jay Cutler
get sacked five times,
rewatching Bears fans
leaving
to
avoid seeing
a game
end
so low
it crushes us to the ground.
Late Fall 2016DivisionIn the book
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementarythe fifth graders
don’t want their school
shut down.
Because their class
would be
divi ded.
Because when
friendships
fr ,
classes are
lonely.
Months shuffle forward,
books my only
companions,
lessons and learning
all I do.
I hide in the library
to escape
the embarrassment
of where to sit at lunch,
but even my favorite books
don’t distract me from
my despair.
I text Adam
about how awful
school is without him,
almost as awful as
the Bears’ season has been.
Their loss in October
against the Packers
left
a bitter taste in my mouth
that hasn’t disappeared
all of November.
I’m thinking of switching teams, bruh.BOOM.
My book
falls
out from
my hand
onto the school hall floor.
Adam’s moving on
from the Bears?
From our team?
Free AgentAdam
and me
were more
than friends.
We were brothers,
since kindergarten.
Before
we learned our letters,
we learned
to toss a foam football.
Back and forth
and
forth
and
back.
Adam’s the one who
first taught me the game,
about the Monsters of the Midway,
Da Bears.
We watched
replays,
studied Super Bowl XX
over and over,
and together,
we drew dreams
of being the next
Super Bowl stars,
of bringing the Bears
back to
sweet greatness.
Adam was the lineman
to my QB,
the one who had my
back,
the encouragement in my ear
that helped me
play.
He was my link to the
game.
Like a free agent
without a team,
when Adam
left,
my link
was
bro
ken.
Copyright © 2024 by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
