to the skies! Photo credit: C. Finch
by Joseph Neely
My wife remembers the boys
chanting his name at school
Reese! Reese!
and I tell her of the time Maurice,
carrying a 12-pound shotput,
ran faster than a big man
had any right to run,
clay cinders flying
like sparks from his spikes,
passing runner after runner
at the Waterford Mott Relays
near Pontiac in 1971,
and how the astonished gasps
of every boy watching
mingled and rose up
to fill the night sky.
***
Joseph Neely graduated from Huron High School in 1973. He lives in the Loch Alpine neighborhood with his wife, Linda, and a small white dog named Lincoln.
***
This is an original poem, brought to you by Poet Tree Town, an Ann Arbor-based poetry-in-public initiative and celebration of local Washtenaw poets. Find out more about Poet Tree Town on Instagram and Facebook, or say hello at poettreetowna2@gmail.com.
