A POEM - THE BIGGER KIDS COULD REALLY KICK 'EM

THE BIGGER KIDS COULD REALLY KICK ‘EM
In elementary school
We were tough little bastards
We’d go up to the playing field
During lunch time
Where the big kids
Kicked around soccer balls
We’d all stand in front of the goal
And try to block their shots.
One time the biggest kid in school
Was taking shots on net
And boy he could kick!
He belted his first one
Right at my face
And it smashed in my left eye.
I got up off the ground
My eye swelling up
And said, “aw, it’s nothing,
Take another shot!”
He said, “ready?”
And pounded another one at me
And it smashed in my right eye.
I got up off the ground again,
Both eyes red and ballooning out,
I said to him, “all right,
I’m fine. Take another one.”
He took a few steps back and really
Slammed this third one home.
It caught me right in the stomach,
Pushing me back a few feet and
Knocking the wind clear outta me.
After a few moments I tried to get up
But I couldn’t stand
So I crawled along the ground
Towards the outside of the goal post,
And I said to myself,
“man, that guy can really kick ‘em.”