The Soccer Fanatic's Wife

"...soccer isn't the same as Bach or Buddhism.
But it is often more deeply felt than religion..."

Franklin Foer, How Soccer Explains the World

Ay, ay, ay, how the cry of G-O-A-L is the sostenuto, voz,
breath, Shankar raga of my marriage. Do I dare say
couple without the ring of Robinho, Ronaldo, Rex
Diego Maradona, Didier Drogba, Franck Ribéry? Now
every Beckham tattoo is L.A. as Dodger blue, KTTV,
Fosters Freeze, Monroe's star. Oh Barça––how could you
give up the Cup––& usted también Real Madrid––cup out?
How do you say, cómo se dice? Gracias ESPN, Fox Deportes:
I sweep, swiffer, vacuum, dust, cook, write, launder,
jive, console as the español left- and right-brains my IQ.
Kisses for raindrops on thighs, sighs for fouls that trip
lickety-split across the screen. Elims, Copas, playoffs. O
Manchester, united we watch. O Red Bulls when I give in.
No soccer, no foot, no fútbol without élan & Sturm.
O Zidane, Zizou, what happened to you? I miss your tall
prestissimo cuerpo, your cante jondo Berber eyes, slick
quicksilvering on a field like a bath bead, your brilliant hadj-
rolling over Europe. O danseur noble, Marco framed you, I
say, insulting your mother, your sister. What chutzpah
to head-butt the grand finale of your hallowed gig.
Under the hazy moon of the 110 south to the 91, #23 is off,
vroom, across Home Depot field: one-two-one-two-three-
wham––Becks threads a pass: G-o-l-a-z-o for Landon D,
x-tasy for Coach Arena. Galaxy 3, Timbers 1. I love tactic.
"Yes!" Tonight I'll dream of drab English grub,
zesty underwear, & wake to the cry of a far-off vuvuzela.




A former high school French teacher in Pasadena, CA, Judith Terzi's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in American Society: What Poets See (FutureCycle Press), Malala: Future Cycle Press Anthology, Poemeleon, Poetry Project Erotic Poem Anthology (Tupelo Press), The Prose-Poem Project, and elsewhere. She is the author of The Road to Oxnard (Pudding House finalist, 2010) and Sharing Tabouli (Finishing Line, 2011). Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Web and Net. She'll miss watching Beckham play for the L.A. Galaxy next year. Visit her website @ http://home.earthlink.net/~jbkt.