The Halftime Show
Converts all to the religion of fun
To its church: bars, booze, fun food, and fellowship
Pray for redemption for their home team
While raising hell.
Bring their children up in the faith: the theology of football
Its canon, liturgy, ecclesiastical vestments, symbols, and rituals.
Casting their lot in the weekly football pool:
Seeking salvation, fearing damnation.
Every Sunday, the Eucharist:
Gathered together in holy Communion before the screen.
Consuming the body and blood of their Team
Dispensed through the mediation of holy men.
Announcers and prophets, dressed in their blazers
Anointed by their acolytes with superhuman powers
To enrapture or to inflict eternal pain.
Reciting banalities and incomprehensible cant.
Bathed in the gaudy lights of their altar
Its mythological gods and heroic deeds enshrined
For the spiritual fulfillment of their worshippers
Yearning yet for something real.
Dave Harrison
Redondo Beach, California
01/14/2020