Dead Serious, American Style
By Matthew Hotham

The word "DE-Fense, DE-Fense" wafts
over the crowd; people cover their noses.
You scoff like shoes scuffing off bleachers—
"If they have to be so damn bleak,
they could at least wear shorter skirts."

The era of touchdowns and victory laps
is shouting its way to oblivion.
Their runningback, inside your 30,
doesn’t care if you’re amused,

nor does the man who watched his child
flatten your QB on the snap.
He carries his pride in a foam hand
and he's slouching toward you
in line at the concession stand
to give your heckles back.

——

Matthew Hotham is Managing Editor of Harvard Review and Poetry Editor of the online journal Slush Pile. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Meridian, Third Coast, anderbo.com, and 32 Poems, among others, and have been featured on Verse Daily. He has a chapbook, Early Art, which was published in 2006 by Turtle Ink Press.

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