Our Game or The Other Game

Our Game or The Other Game

Walking down a rural lane, I saw him play,

That little agile fellow, of his childhood day

Oh! He played the game of my say

Amusing himself with Hockey on a holiday

The young guy less than fourth of my age

Came rolling down seemingly blessed by a sage

Delivered a thundering piece of plastic

Was almost round ‘not a ball’ that’s drastic

A lump of wood, the shape of a hooked bat

The sun was strong but the guy lacked a hat

He swung the piece with immense desire

Appreciated proudly by his spectator sire

The place was a plot of barren land

Full of dead weed and braising hot sand

Young fellow sans hat, with the unshaved wood

With torn slippers, he had bruises under his hood

My heart went throbbing at the unusual sight

A sight so common yet unnoticed, right?

He continued to play without any pain,

But my hands were trembling, I wasn’t insane!

Reckoning with them was what I felt

With deep enough breath and tightened belt,

I went close to the feebly stacked pyre

To know them more was my earnest desire

“Namaste Sir! Do feel for your son,

Do find a place better than this one!

His ankle is cracked and his skin is blacke(ne)d

Strikes well, deserves more, nothing’s lacked!”

Continued further to interrogate this dad

“Don’t you see the dried cut of your lad?”

To my utter surprise he replied with glee

“Great so there’s someone to talk to me”

“His teacher one day, delivered this ken,

Hockey, the national game, wrote down in pen,

Since then he started to play with his might,

To know his country’s game, it wasn’t light.

Bleakly captivated by the Other Game

He plays every afternoon, it’s all the same

Wants to revive its glory and propose,

It’s our game, that’s what I’ve chose.

Had it been for the Other Game,

Might have had a bit more fame,

The Other’s got a ground for it,

There’s none yet for this game’s pit

A pit for practice, a practice to pull out

From within the pit of a deathly blackout,

Each day he says that he shall become

The God of this game, Religion for some!

Picture Reference: https://www.wittysparks.com/remember-the-game-hockey/