Running with Pierre Garcon: A poem by Norbert Krapf

Running with Pierre Garcon
— Norbert Krapf

He wraps himself
in the flag
of his country
in victory

not as a political
statement but
to embrace and
uplift the people

who are trapped
beneath the rubble
of a catastrophe
to show he remembers

where he came from
and feels their
pain and misery
and when he

reaches for the
football many
dark hands
reach with him

and as he
hauls in the pass
without breaking
his stride many

speed across the goal
line with him
and feel with
the bare soles

of  their feet
what it means to
cross standing up
to the other side

© 2010 Norbert Krapf