18: Football

The roaring cheers of the crowd, the cries of excitement
As the long bomb is tossed high up into the air like a grenade
Tension fills the stadium as the seconds go by
And the receiver, far downfield, glances over his shoulder
Once at the ball descending gracefully towards his open arms
Once at the freight train in the defending jersey bearing down
And with a prayer and blind faith in the quarterback
He jumps up high, the ball landing, cradled safely in his arms
He lands hard, a twinge of pain shooting up his left knee
Only yards away from the goal line, a breath away
Holding the ball like a newborn, protecting it with his life
He launches off his other foot just as the freight train
Clips him on the shoulder, spinning him sideways
And he spins, not so graceful as he'd hoped,
Lands sideways on the shoulder that had just healed three weeks previous
And eight thousand tons of the defense lands on him
Did he just hear a crack, somewhere inside of him?
He opens up his eyes, the lye of the yard line reaching out ahead of him
Groaning, gasping for air, he starts to laugh despite the pain
The ball still safely cradled in his arms,
First down and two yards to go for the winning goal.

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