Well, it can be! Golf is a game of tempo and timing. The ball is just sitting there waiting to be struck. So why can't a player hit it perfectly everytime?
Like Yogi Berra said about baseball, golf "is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical." There are distractions like noise, the sun in your eyes, the wind in your face and the beverage cart creeping into your peripheral vision.
Like writers, golfers are rarely satisfied with their efforts on a given day. If I'd made that short putt on No. 3, missed the bunker on No. 8, made it over the water on No. 11, stayed in bounds on No 12 and made a hole-in-one on No. 14, I'd have shot my best score ever!
Like writing, golf draws you in. No matter how poorly you are playing, you always hit at least one shot that makes you want to play again. That's because if you can hit one shot like that....
Golf
Fairways and greens
Fairways and greens
Hit the ball
those two places.
How simple it seems!
But, I see the trees
and the rough and
the sand and
sometimes there's
water that snakes
through the land.
Of course, the biggest
hindrance of all
is the way I actually
swing at the ball.
Let me know if you're a golfer or if you have some other obsession besides writing.
Follow me on twitter or subscribe to this blog by clicking on the link in the upper right.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Golf-Poetry in Motion
I am a poet and photographer who likes sports, jazz and art inspired by other art. I served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the early 1970's and was assigned to the Computer Sciences School in Quantico, VA. I have published a chapbook of grief poems, I Keep You with Me. My work also has appeared in publications such as Thorny Locust Magazine, core. zine,The Enigmatist, Veterans' Voices and Kansas Time + Place An Anthology of Heartland Poetry. My visual art pieces combine poetry and photographs, and have been most recently displayed at InterUrban ArtHouse, Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, Buttonwood Art Space, and The Smalter Gallery.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't play golf but in college 30 years ago I was told I had a good natural swing.
ReplyDeleteLovely little poem. Poetry like any sports requires concentration. In baseball and softball you must watch the ball hit your bat and like a good joke, timing is nearly everything. Many times I said to myself, "You've hit this pitcher before. Time for another one." Sometimes it works. Poetry is very much like this. Thanks for reminding us.
Thanks, Kris. I think in golf especially, you can either focus on where you want to go or what will prevent you from getting there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and for following.
Love the poem Michelle; brings back some memories. In my second marriage, after trying golf, we had a collective bargain. He’d golf and I’d mountain climb and leave it at that. Never been so frustrated in my whole life!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, do you ever write about mountain climbing? Thanks for stopping by, Veronica.
Delete