Game 71

CHI 91               DET 107

People who do not know the Great Lakes
Imagine them like other lakes
          calm, still, glassy
Only bigger

Stocked with fish
Like the ones in their towns

Memorial Day picnics
And summer camp secrets

Safety

But the Great Lakes
Are not like those lakes at all
But like oceans

Standing at their shores
You see the roundness of the World
On their horizons

Roaring waves
Drowning out the
Clattering city
So powerful
So loud
Until now

Roaring waves
Slamming you down
Pulling you under
Reminding you who’s in charge

And it ain’t you

Now,
I imagine
When drowning
There must come a moment

Of acceptance--
hopefully

Depends on the drowner

A private moment--
Individual

When the cold
Gets a little less cold
And a new kind of fear
Lets you stop
Holding your breath

That moment
Only the drowner
Can decide

This final choice
This one last how and why
Giving us power
Over death

When the fate of the game
Has already been sealed