The most intense moment I’ve ever known
Was not primal sex, not my wedding day,
My first child’s birth; nor was I addled, blown
Away (though rapt) viewing my first ballet.
Students made me a favored prof—quite nice;
And, while the appearance of my first book
Puffed me up, nothing so struck, battered, iced
My heart, set that rapturous, nerve-barbed hook,
As the last furlong of a mile-long race.
An agitated crowd howls with held breath—
Air congeals, taut skin crawls while space
Shrinks—Earth slows, stops—engenders living death!
For what? A horse race—fickle Luck’s coquette,
Life’s sky-kissed pinnacle—a five buck bet.
(12/23/08)