The Game

  * * *

  I am a player

  I love to play

  I want to win

  It matters to me if I win or lose

  It matters to me how I play the game I want to win without injustice or bad luck or regret I want to own every pleasure and disappointment I want to get lost in play

  I want time not to matter

  I want to do something more important than me I cannot win alone

  I need my teammates and my opponents to make me better I trust, because I have to trust

  I forgive, because I need to be forgiven I play a game, not only a game I try because that matters to me

  I try because it’s more fun that way I don’t quit because it doesn’t feel good when I do I play with others, but I play against me I learn when I play

  I play when I learn

  I practice because I like to be good I try what I’ve never tried before

  I fail, to fail smarter

  I want to be better than I was yesterday I dream

  I imagine

  I feel hard and deep

  I hope, because there’s always a way.

  —July 21, 2003