Friday, May 29, 2009

Getting it Right the Umpteenth Time








excruciatingly deliberate

i have finally squeezed blood from the stone of underperformance
it happened relatively late, in the season
like a team out of the playoffs
inconsiderable for a wild card selection

so why does the coach, coach?
because the real coaches are just that through and through
committed to grow

you

leaders of the best essay
finessists
of who what why where when and how

after matches mattering to others were played
the remaining drift of this season were captured and collected
by the coach
key standards were once proposed to a sorry end

and the team looked at the ‘end’
commenting
observing to set a goal
discussed the plan for a result
we wanted

and for 7 days we performed the layout
hands got red from rubbing

early one eighth morning i graded tests

“i wonder what...”
seven children who had never once all year scored one hundred
percent were now joining the club for

one hundred percent of the students scores advanced by
fifteen percent or more

fifteen out of nineteen students showed proficiency on 4 key standards
after seven days of deftly applied coaching
acumen (a word so very 2009...)
excruciatingly deliberate
with bloody hands from much heart holding

Oakland’s got another thing coming
something outrageously gorgeous

(to my 2008/09 students)
from your ‘coach’