Three slow-motion replays confirmed
from three different angles
the force of the impact,
two helmets snapped back
and two bodies fell like rag dolls.
My dad calls it “getting your bell rung”
After a few minutes, we could tell it was serious
as both teams got off their benches
and approached the pair (still motionless on the ground),
some players wearing their black winter parkas
looking like a crowd of reapers come to take the dead,
And that orange golf cart that rolls onto the field
must be some ironic chariot from heaven.
This suddenly visible burden
(the fear of life)
hangs dark over the now silent crowd.
It breaks your heart a little
to see those giant linebackers
take a knee and say a prayer
to a not-often addressed God,
hanging their heads
and wiping away tears with thick ropey forearms
saying please, please, let my friend be alright,
let him stand up,
please lord.
