Like an ungainly bird,
just learning to fly,
he would launch himself forward,
in a dare-devilish try,
his claws, spinning wheels,
and his winged jumpsuits white,
trimmed in bright reds and blues,
like a flag in mid flight
Up huge ramps to the lip
of the sky he was flung
while below breath was held
as his leap was begun.
I would sit in an armchair,
on the edge lurching up,
trying to help make his landings,
a bit less abrupt.
Over Greyhounds and trucks
over cars and through flame,
he would sail like a god,
with a demon-like name.
Then he'd land with a crunch,
tumbling end over end,
bike goes this way, flesh that way,
in ways bodies can't bend.
Or he'd nail that back wheel,
and then set the front down,
with a fist in the air,
as the crowd roared the sound,
of their great love affair,
with the man death ignored,
all the jumps that I watched,
left me anything but bored.
I suppose if he'd grown old,
he'd rig wheelchairs with jets,
leaping nursing home buildings,
in star spangled sweats,
But now that he's in heaven,
God has given him wings,
where he'll spend his eternity,
jumping high over things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artis
A contest entry
- Pay Tribute to Evel Knievel by duana.
300 points, ended December 16, 2007, 3 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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would sit in an armchair,
on the edge lurching up,
trying to help make his landings,
a bit less abrupt.
I love this- I love the whole poem but this I chuckled at especially because I am my brothers did the exact same thing, lol, and I would never have remembered had you not put this is your poem. You are really a brilliant writer- you have caotured him completely from the observers perspective which is really the most exciting perspective other than his own! -
I love these lines: I suppose if he could,
he rig wheelchairs with jets...I also like the line about heaven giving him wings- to me you are more than being funny, but also kind of vindcating him, as he himself did by repenting of all his sins before he died. Very fun poem you have written here, and nice allusions to superheros too- something often done with him in real life. Great job. Thanks for being the first to enter!
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