Law 7: The Duration of the Match
“Aos 45 Do Segundo Tempo” – “45 Minutes into the Second Half”
Time shapes everything that happens;
Affects the curvature of the earth
The stirring of mountains
Tides and tempers
Birth death
Within a mounting barrage of ticking.
It rouses meaning;
Generates it,
Sifts moments,
Not seconds or minutes, but moments, a more pliable forgiving measure,
For easy consumption.
And time doesn’t really start until someone blows a whistle.
That shrill sets this time apart. The sound triggers a pass and we are off into planned and
unplanned geometry. It cannot quicken forever. This carved out occasion, this series of
activities have weight, rest on shoulders, an almost infinite number of governed actions.
Precious because they can only happen now and now and now.45 minutes and we are
done, another 45 and we are finished.
All games must end.
Filled with tension
Generated of hope and tragedy.
A signal to end a sequence of actions and movements
Across the field from a starting point,
Move and move and move in space and in time;
The past preparations,
A present, when we are together,
And far far into the future.
Check the watch, this finite moment has a mysterious end,
No one knows but a referee
But end it will come.
The frenzied movements must end.
The lung busting must end.
The recovery must begin.
Calculate and blow the whistle
To end this
And begin something else.
***
Law 2: The Ball
“I don’t need the best hairstyle or the best body. Just give me a ball at my feet and I’ll show you what I can do.” —Lionel Messi
Telstar Elast, pentagonal panels 32 total, 12 colored black so intimates on black and white TVs can see the ball on the screen in 1970.
I was gifted a Spalding knockoff in 1977.
Willed it with me to college in ‘86
Played with it in a practice in ‘06
It sleeps safely in my garage right now, waiting,
The way balls wait the kind of rapport to make them alive once more.
Kicked around, slammed against walls,
Skipped close across too long grass
Faded and serviceable
Stained green then worn off.
Durable like old friends are durable
That ball is everything anyone could have ever asked of it,
Maybe more.
***
Ode to Preki
He knew Preki was going to fake right and cut left
It is what he always does.
Even now at 40 it is what he does.
The buzz earlier in the year was it was time to put him out to pasture. Gansler had already shipped him to Miami three years ago and was made to look like a fool by assisting almost twenty times. When Miami folded Gansler got him back and started him every game. Two years later Preki is still going strong.
A quick pass from Conrad
The ball slipped across the grass to his right foot
Which trapped it in the direction he wanted to go.
One touch, two touches and he was a few yards outside the penalty area.
Anachronism of an “old” man playing a young man’s game. Of a left footer playing on the right side. When teams have a hard time finding a quality player for the left why put one on the right? Well, at this point he plays where ever he wants.
The defender keeps his feet in position waiting for the fake right.
He can see his head is up, looking for a pass.
He knows he knows the position of his teammates.
Knows where they tend to position themselves, where the runs will come from.
Their eyes meet and he knows what he will do.
Indoor, on the hard playing surface and compact space, there was no room for this. Maneuvering in a closed box. Did it affect his game, yes. How about the turn, most likely. Then into MLS and a nationality change, and the nickname “Instant Offence” on the US squad. Slipping in with fifteen minutes to go to squeeze out a goal and now continuing to erase the disaster in France.
Preki makes quick move to the right
The defender follows only to find the ball moving left
One step and the left boot connects
The keeper leaps to the far post.
***
What is there left to say about Marc Janssen, other than he should eat more vegetables? Maybe his verse can be found scattered around the world in places like Pinyon, Orbis, Pure Slush, Cirque Journal, Two Thirds North and Poetry Salzburg also in his book November Reconsidered and his recent book collaboration A Resurrection of Trees. Janssen coordinates the Salem Poetry Project – a weekly reading, the occasionally occurring Salem Poetry Festival and keeps getting nominated for Oregon Poet Laurate. For more information visit: marcjanssenpoet.com.
