I Like That

I Like That 

(Lines written January 8, 2015 before the Redskins first playoff game)

A long time we had coming to it, ups and downs,

Many more downs than ups, valleys and peaks,

Many more valleys than peaks, the despondent

Malaise that comes from accepting the bottom

Because the climb seems impossible. Each first

Upward step was followed by stumbles, so often,

That cynicism grew, faithlessness spread, as hope

After hope was dashed, broken, crushed, as if

Echoing the sound of bones breaking and joints’,

Stressed and pressed in mounting tension, tendons

Tightening only to snap, heard in the crowded

Silence, somewhere between the initial “Uhh”

And the inevitable gasp, followed by another

Long suffering sigh, knowing that another glimmer

Of light has been systematically snuffed out again.

In the valley, since building seems only pointless,

You try to buy your way up, make it seem like

Investments are being made, progress occurring,

The façade of growth, victories in meaningless

Arenas, far from the field, but deep down all know,

Because all have been conditioned to know,

It is only a show, and no real plan exists. The show

Goes on, and the distraction of drama becomes

The only show in town. Like buzzards, we circle,

In our hopeless desire to be filled, devouring

The rotten decay because we have been starved.

Such has it been in Washington, and not just

On Capitol Hill or in the White House, and not

Just for eight or sixteen years, but for longer.

For twenty-five years we’ve suffered this road,

And the confidence we knew then is a fleeting

Mere memory of the mind, when victory knew

The faces of hero after hero, no one savior,

But a groundswell of confidence in competence,

A way, a non-swaggering march of men, facing,

And overcoming adversity together, climbing

Together, arm in arm, each knowing his role

And importance in achieving a single minded goal.

Is twenty-five years in the dark enough to teach

The lesson, that you can’t buy it, you can’t

Steal it, you can’t artificially manufacture it,

One man can’t carry it alone, it doesn’t happen

With just one step, and you can’t skip steps,

But you have to believe in each step? Has it

Been enough time for the childish dreamers

To be put to bed, so that the men can rise

And go to work, with patience and an unbroken

Quiet faith in the step ahead and the man

Standing beside you, taking it there with you?

Have leaders emerged, built by the fire, but not

Burned by it, not broken by it, standing unmired by

The lost faith that leads others to fear and avoidance?

Maybe this time, we have seen a glimpse, and are

Being filled again by the real meat of victory

And not distraction. Hope has returned, different,

Reminiscent because it does seem more real.

It does seem like the right questions are being

Asked and answered, honestly, without dissembling

Double talk about moral victories and April wins.

It does seem like a foundation, a firm foundation

Is being built. It does seem like a chain is being built,

Rather than one shining link. It does seem like

As good as today may just be, tomorrow has not

Been forgotten and sold, but that it is all connected,

Then and now, as it always should be, and must be

Because it actually is, and the realization of such,

Is the true lesson of the fire, if you can emerge

On the other side, having stood under the heat.

I was a child when the confidence was strong, and I

Remember the heroes of my youth. I see the men

Who’ve been before behind those numbers, the gifts

They gave me: entertainment, hope, faith, excitement,

Memories, and long for those days to return.

I hope they have because we’ve known enough

Of the other side to be filled with the joy again.

Today I feel that joy. It doesn’t seem to be fleeting

Nor fragile. Of course, only time will tell, but for now

I must say, “I like that.” I like that very much.