Hockey Family by Shane Koyczan

From poet Shane Koyczan on the recent tragedy in Saskatchewan

We have no hockey sticks to put outside, so I wrote this:

Hockey Family

We were a hockey family

though we rarely

watched the games

it hardly mattered

we could hear

the neighbors next door

every time their team scored

every time their goalie

made the kind of save

the world needs right now

you could tell what was happening

through bass and treble

bass was the sound of the other guys pulling ahead

treble was the sound of our guys

catching up

you can hear the sound hope makes

when a hockey game is played

and we are a hockey family

having driven through

small Canadian towns

who have little more than a bus load of dreams and a gas station for the Zamboni

we are a hockey family despite having rarely played

we remember the welt

the slap shot made

so thick it looked like it would never leave

we remember thinking

some of us

are meant for dice and trivia

some of us are too soft

for ice, wood, steel

and the kind of speed

that makes those things dangerous

some of us take the hits

some of us watch the hits being taken

some of us hear our neighbors weep through walls meant to cage the agony of loss

but we all

swallow our breath

in respect of the pain

we all know

it hurts

we are a hockey family.

Shane.L.Koyczan

#HumboldtStrong

#HumboldtBroncos