Shakespeare said
all the world’s a stage
and the world’s watching London
I’m watching it
on a television screen
and little snippets I can
sneak in here and there
on my computer
when I’m supposed to be working
I’m not the only one, right?
For two weeks
every four years
the world is watching,
cheering,
crying,
getting inspired
we can’t get enough
of excellence
of seeing one of ours get
awarded with a medal
and hearing that song —
our song
fill the stadium
more goosebumps than I ever got from standing in the cold
then the athletes
come and go
and we say,
“see you in four years”
as if four years
happens as fast
as pressing power on the remote
athletes, you’re on,
but what about all that time
in-between when you’re not on?
toiling away in obscurity,
like this warning sign from Cambridge’s website
to deter all but the most dedicated graduate students,
You will spend long hours in the library working on a topic which on a black day might seem to be of interest to no one else in the world. You should bear in mind that you will probably be poor, and that you will almost certainly have to spend a great deal of time reading material which you find unappetizing in order to master your chosen field.
So British, eh?
no sugar-coating, no beating around the bush
You could substitute gym for library,
training for reading,
and say the same thing
for athletes and their 6 am practices,
sacrifices,
and persistence in
repeating the same strokes, lifts, throws, routines,
to be as best as they can be
when the world finally opens its eyes
and all that toiling in darkness
comes into light
and we celebrate with you
because you’re glowing
but what about those times when you do better in the dark?
when you race the fastest
without the pressure of
a million eyes
on and off
aren’t just settings on TV
we take it for granted
you’ll always be around
doing what you love
because that’s what you do, right?
you’re a runner, cyclist, swimmer
you’ll always be one
but sometimes this really is
goodbye
and we probably won’t appreciate
everything you did
until we don’t see you in Rio
because there’s nothing more present
than absence
you’re off the stage
the curtain closes
and our watching turns to remembering.
to all the athletes who toil away in obscurity
to those who shine in the spotlight and those who shine when it’s off
and to those whose last act is London – Clara Hughes, Brent Hayden, Simon Whitfield,
this one’s for you —
thank you.
by Charlene Kwiatkowski
Clara Hughes. “I really hope that maybe people will remember the way that I did what I did. Not what I did, but the way in which I did it.”
Brent Hayden. “I think tonight was just about digging down deep, right into my soul . . . There are so many times when you dream about something and a million out of a million-and-one times, it won’t come true.”
“Yeah, it was hard. It was hard to see my daughter upset, my wife upset, and I was pretty upset. Ah, that’s life. That means it means something, doesn’t it?”
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