sestina de futbola abouta owna gola:
 the wretched kick, elimination dancing,
 tragedy strikes even when strikers do not
 & the resultant dismay & doom
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 this is about the prodigious scorer owna gola 
 whose point production is the kiss of the wretched  
 caught in the a fast head bounce or calamity kick 
 a subtle nudge weakens the lesser in elimination dancing 
 bowing or scraping -- turfside, an unforeseen tragedy strikes 
 from adrenaline to dismay & doom 
 
 doom!  I say doom!  doom I say I say doom... 
 owna gola says nuthin'.  bastard smirks translucently.  when owna gola 
 has reason to rejoice, the rejoicing are emptier-feeling: lucky strikes 
 del sol well-meaning well-skilled defenders now pale-moon as the wretched 
 no matter how much tackling, denying, clearing, shooting or dancing 
 they do -- copa mundial & no man is the richest in scoring, head or kick 
 
 unless a ricochet is followed by a strangeness, penalty is the only kick 
 exempt from this the self-inflicted oh-no-in-my-own-net! doom 
 other plays are always on -- open gate to elimination dancing 
 where now the leading scoring testifies to the prowess of -- owna gola!
 no team no star no man is immune; no finesse is secure from this wretched 
 turn of fate -- the strike that wounds the most among all connected strikes 
 
 no more pressure ever pressed a savvy keeper than the own-team strikes 
 he's had to scoop out of the net -- such anguish in one header or kick 
 lucky is the team which goes down never chalking up a wretched 
 attribution like so in the scorer's log, the infamy that is the doom 
 of coaches & players, a skill signature of the shadowy eminence owna gola
 master of deflection, too quick to react to, himself undefendably dancing 
 
 & so this dance, dance, dance they dance, though insane is this dancing 
 two billion huddled in front of teevees & yearning --  not labor strikes?
 not expecting no never expecting but recognizing the ever skilled owna gola 
 ah here comes a corner kick -- ah here another -- oh & here a direct kick 
 which one goes beyond tempting fate which one delivers the dreaded doom?
 which one bewilders with slight delay the two billion unsuspecting wretched 
 
 this sestina is getting on interminably a la holland/belgium & no strikes.
 with games like holland/belgium, one regrets one had not gone dancing.
 nothing came close to making this viewer comatose than euro footbal's doom 
 yes, it is the likes of holland/belgium duro/aluminium that make wretched 
 watching of it all -- yeah, i'd rather be zapped by the deflecting kick 
 of the fleetfooted man, the wham-slam, the shocker, the knocker: owna gola!
 
 it is six in the morning, no strikes on tv & I don't write this wretched
 usually.  sleeping or elimination dancing await at seven: opening kick.
 to sleep, to watch: dawn the doom gatherer baggios her pink arm: owna gola!


		Marek Lugowski
		14 June 1998
		Chicago, Illinois