Poem: Too Late

Hockey.
One word that can evoke
Two million different emotions
Inside of me.
And that is why
When my dad told me to take
My two younger sisters
To a hockey game
I willingly kept back my excitement.

It was a windy day
In Washington, DC,
And we were going to see
The Washington Capitals
Play against another meager team.
I gathered them all up
And took them to the empty garage
Underneath that large building
That was empty.
Where you could hear
The sound of the puck
Banging off the glass
Because there was no one there.

One of my sisters got there.
And I told her to stay and wait
For the rest of us to come.
Then I went back to get
My youngest sister and
My brother.
I kept having to go back
Struggling against the bleak
December weather
And the wind that tore
Past the heavy jacket
That I had put on
Even though I didn’t usually
Wear jackets.

When all of them were finally there,
I went back one last time
Because I wanted to cheer on my team
Wearing team colours.
I would just change
And then I’d be back.
But it wasn’t that simple.
Because I got lost in the garage
And somehow didn’t make my way back
Until all the action was over.
And my hockey-loving heart
Broke into a million pieces.
It isn’t whole yet.
I know I’ll have to wait
Quite a few years
For my heart to slowly mend itself.