From Calgary to Sochi

As reflection on the current 2014 Sochi Olympics the 22nd Winter Olympiad, I am posting a “poem” I wrote that chronicled some of the events of the 1988 Olympics which I watched while attending Houghton College.  How many of the references are recognizeable?

THE FIFTEENTH WINTER OLYMPIAD

                                                             “Can You Feel It?”

 

2/13

 

In Houghton the snow slips through the air,

an inch or two, nothing much,

wandering where the wind whips it

in squalls, closing the sidewalks.

Not a college plow all day.

 

In Calgary the sky clears;

the olympic stampede opens ‑

between commercials.  Nations watch

a twelve‑year‑old light the Jovan torch.

A chinook is expected.

 

2/14

 

Today’s sound of silence is sun on snow,

the waters wending their way

down the brook under ice,

a hearth of hearts and hymns

for a Valentine Sunday.

 

The lunging of the luge, slashing

side to side; chinook slicing

winds cancel men’s downhill.

Eddie Edwards enlivened

seventy meter jump ‑ finishing dead last.

 

2/15

 

Sleet slushes onto the slippery walks

already packed with pounds of snow.

The day clears past the clouds of dawn,

warming to a wonder of forties,

and an accident of death.

 

The men flow, flying as they move

down‑hill at Nakiska.

With haste the hockey heats the ice ‑

U.S. checks the Slovaks

for an early lead ‑ to lose.

 

2/16

 

Salt and pepper snow falls

on yesterday’s slush ‑ now ice.

It crunches and cracks underfoot,

hiding yesterday’s misery

from today’s sunlight.

 

Pairs skate ‑ Seybold and Seybold

finesse for only five‑two, five‑three,

a five‑five from the U.S. judge;

Soviet Gordeeva and Grinkov gain gold

while Watson and Oppegard beat others for bronze.

 

2/17

 

The flag still flies at half‑mast

for Monday’s `accident of death.’

The wind in its way whispers

heavy song into our hearts ‑

the sun shines there with warmth.

 

The States against the Soviets struggled

to repeat the feat of eight years past.

Beat down from the start, they came back

to be beat down again, to fail,

five‑seven, no sense for true defense.

 

2/18

 

Deceptive spring this day spawned

outside work by maintenance;

second floor Woolsey Hall received a door hole

for a fire escape. Wind passed through

to set the fire alarm sounding.

 

Men Skate ‑ short program:

Orser stars to home crowd cheers;

Boitano moves into first; both Brians dazzle.

Germans take ladies luge ‑ all three medals,

separated by one‑hundredth slice of a second.

 

2/19

 

From no plow to snow plow ‑ today

the plow came out at noon

and parked, in clear weather.

At sunset flakes slushed in flurries,

blustering, heavy moisture on the walks.

 

States against Norse in hockey

started slow ‑ and won.

Karen Percy for Canada places ‑

their first medal.

Team Portugal sleds on side of bobsled.

 

2/20

 

Overcast skies catch warmth

on a day predicted down

to the twenties that rose to the forties;

a cold warmth, chilling wind,

to a calm, cold night.

 

Men’s skate ‑ long program:

Boitano gains gold, beats

Orser only by a tie‑breaker;

Three Soviets sought bronze.

“Can you feel it?” ‑ The Star Spangled Banner.

 

2/21

 

Today’s sound of silence is grains of sand

drifting under draughts of the wind

whistling through the trees the bitter

inaudible moan of unintelligible

nature in her natal noise ‑ nothing.

 

Ice dancing ‑ Viennese Waltz:

Semanick and Gregory slip,

Canada holds third. In hockey ‑

West Germany wins against U.S.

four to one, by careful, slow control.

 

2/22

 

Flying at full mast again, the flag flutters

in a wild wind that whips against

anything not inside something else.

Snow plow runs around today in clear weather,

seen more now than ever when it snows.

 

Bonnie Blair blazes to new world record

and gold in five-hundred meter speed skate.

Ice dancing – original set pattern:

Semanick and Gregory tantalize

with a brash, vibrant tango.

 

2/23

 

Indian spring slips away

into snow like rain sprinkling

on a sunny day that glazes

ice onto walks and streets;

the temperature imperceptibly drops.

 

Ice dancing – free dance:

Wilson and McCall dance Elite Syncopations –

tippy, toey, flat-footed and fun, for bronze;

Semanick and Gregory take sixth.

Eddie Edwards sets British record in ninety-meter jump.

 

2/24

 

Hit-and-run snow invades

the campus throughout the day;

parking lots empty,

making a deserted silence

as people leave their labors.

 

Women’s giant slalom:

Fernandez of Spain led

after first run, fell in second;

twenty-nine finished second run,

thirty-five fell of fouled-out.

 

2/25

 

A sheet, a shade, so soft,

of snow drifting down over death

an overture of illness,

a morning epilogue,

a silent symphony.

 

Women’s figure skate – short program:

Thomas tempts with torrid beat,

Witt on Broadway toes in time,

Conway of Britain braces the ice twice,

Ivanova falls – on ice and in standings.

 

2/26

 

Snow accumulates, snuggling the earth

as a temporary blanket, a tarp

that soon will melt, as so often

before in this winter snow fell

but didn’t stay, or stay long.

 

Two-man bobsled:  man-made snow and dust

blown by the wind delayed the third run till today;

Japan rides on its side at 60 miles per hour;

Team Portugal tips again, but rights itself;

U.S. teams ranked 18 and 20.