From Tee to Green
you push
a giant toothpick
in the ground
and place a ball
on top of it
and grip the leather
and take a practice swing
‘til you hear it sing
then into position
your body
and mind
and so it would seem
to the spectator eye
such a simple thing
to get from tee
to green
in short order
and repeat it
year after year
no matter the weather
the up and down
the hazards
but a glimpse
of what you see
on tv
or around a tournament town
doesn’t begin
to graze the surface
the struggle within
there are so many elements
in play
that test who you are
who you think you are
what you’re capable of
what you think you’re capable of
and in those hours
of bend and build
there is a quiet
in the dew drop mornings
the biting frost to blazing heat
the torrential rain to not a drop
the barely a breath to whipping gusts
the blue skies to crackling thunder
the dusk to dark
it’s all there
on courses long and short
the lessons
the private lessons
unending
the reassessment
the adjustment
the learning and re-learning
the simplifying
becoming less
becoming more
constantly evolving
continually revolving
from the ground
up
TL