美国国家公共电台 NPR Kwame Alexander 'Morning Edition' Community Sports Poem

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Here with our poet in residence, Kwame Alexander. Hello, Kwame.

KWAME ALEXANDER: Hey there, Rachel. How you doing?

MARTIN: I'm pretty good. How are you doing?

ALEXANDER: I'm super.

MARTIN: You're super. You're always super.

ALEXANDER: What can I say? I'm batting a thousand.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

ALEXANDER: I'm undefeated.

MARTIN: Nice. I like how you worked that in.

ALEXANDER: Just call me Ace¹.

MARTIN: (Laughter) Ace, when we were last together, we shared some sports poetry, and we asked our listeners to send in their masterpieces, and they did, right?

ALEXANDER: How many did we get?

MARTIN: Over 500.

ALEXANDER: Wow.

MARTIN: I know. It was pretty good.

ALEXANDER: I know I say this a lot, but this poetry thing really works.

MARTIN: It does.

ALEXANDER: I think people love it because it lets them feel more connected to others.

MARTIN: Yeah.

ALEXANDER: I found an interesting quote about poetry from a Polish poet, whose name I can never pronounce correctly, Czeslaw Milosz. (Reading) The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open. There are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.

MARTIN: So true, right? OK. With that, shall we present our MORNING EDITION community poem about sports?

ALEXANDER: Game on, Rachel Martin. You start and I'll sub.

MARTIN: (Laughter) OK. Here we go. (Reading) The trail has been treacherous², rocky and twisting. I'm tempted³ to quit, my poor legs resisting, but up this steep hill I continue to rally, envisioning flowers that bloom in the valley.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) I'm a hurricane force with a Blue Jacket sting. I flash to the finish like my feet have wings. You'd think you'd got skill with your high jump technique. I spring through the air while you're tripping on your feet. I hurdle⁴ through the world while you stub your toes.

MARTIN: (Reading) I'm the queen of the fast lane. Everybody knows. So bring your best, your talent, your speed. The ladies from Daniels don't follow; we lead.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) The girl's got hoops⁵, and she's 5'9", a skinny brown beanpole. I'm so proud she's mine. I had pushed for ballet slippers⁶. She quietly agreed. Graceful⁷ but loveless, she did it for me. Now on that court with the ball in her hand, more graceful than ever. The dance finally began. Crisp movements, catching⁸ the eyes of everyone in the room, gliding⁹ across the floor as if on water, jumping with the beat of the melody.

MARTIN: (Reading) There's something about the arc the ball makes as it traces the path between us; catch and throw, catch and throw. The warmth of the early spring sun, the slap of the ball into leather, the movement of muscles, automatic, familiar. We ease into it, loosening our arms with throws casual and slow.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) We have played this game with Nerf balls, babies sleeping in the other room, with tennis balls in swimming pools, showing off our acrobatic diving catches, a 10 from the American judge, on grassy¹⁰ fields with bases, giggling¹¹ kids racing¹² between, caught in a pickle¹³.

MARTIN: (Reading) Through 40 years of friendship and 30 of marriage, this has been a constant - shall I compare thee to a stand-up double? Thou art more welcome and more absolute.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) Hey, honey, got your glove?

MARTIN: (Reading) Now we take it more seriously than when we were any good, before the joint¹⁴ surgeries, when we could still hit without pain, when we had legs. Now we play not to lose. But today, everyone that shows up wins, this sun, this sky, these companionable partners, these comprehensible lines.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) When you have ice blocks for feet, icicle fingers and a lump in your throat to tremble your body with cold tomorrow, you doubt the sanity¹⁵ of waking at 5, the 8-year-old on ice by 6, blades carving¹⁶ shapes you can't name. And when your boy looks through his coach's face on the bench, red cheeks, a fire in each wooded eye, complains about tripping, that number 16 with the black mask, says I'll chop him down next time, you doubt this game. At the hour you venture into the warm room to thaw¹⁷ out your spine¹⁸ and hear a father break down his son's backhand highlight spinner in a voice loud enough for all to hear, you know the annual backyard ice sheet was a bad idea.

MARTIN: (Reading) This is not what forgiveness is supposed to look like, fast-food tacos and football. The game should be a reason to talk. But as players flatten¹⁹ each other, we watch with flat faces. Football steals Sundays. Hon, weekends are for family. Help with these damn kids.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) Stop. Imagine the universe, green-sunned planet or whatever, where this is poetry. Where Monday morning papers put a poet - mouth open, arm rising - on the front page and, in its own section, there are statistical²⁰ landscapes ranking metaphors²¹ and similes²², top 10 rundown of the season's best opening and closing lines, investigative articles on the billions of hours of lost office productivity due to online fantasy poet leagues.

MARTIN: (Reading) There's a big, burly man in a headset somewhere weeping and waving his hands about Kwame Alexander before four sportscasters in matching tweed blazers slap each other on the back and stage an analytical²³ replay of an Emily Dickinson stanza²⁴ with unseen markers drawing arrows and lines across the screen.

ALEXANDER: (Reading) The sky was clear. The snow was deep. I prayed the Lord my soul to keep, then launched myself down mountain steep in search of Alpine²⁵ glory.

MARTIN: (Reading) I skied the bumps with grace and flair²⁶. I hit the jumps and caught some air. I didn't know that rock was there. And that concludes my story.

ALEXANDER: (Laughter) Man, our listeners are ballers. That was an awesome²⁷ cornucopia²⁸, a poet-pourri (ph) if you will.

MARTIN: A poet-pourri.

ALEXANDER: A poet-pourri of the wild world of sports.

MARTIN: We had tennis and baseball, track, cross-country, of course, football.

ALEXANDER: We had some ballet in there and basketball and hockey.

MARTIN: Yep. Thanks to all of you, all of our listeners, who submitted poems. We so appreciate it.

ALEXANDER: We can't share all of them, but there are so many wonderful contributions. It's such an honor to read and to help create this community, crowdsourced poem.

MARTIN: We love it every time we do this. Kwame Alexander is a regular contributor to MORNING EDITION, a huge Mystics fan, we should say, and the inaugural²⁹ innovator³⁰ in residence at the American School in London. Kwame, Happy Thanksgiving.

ALEXANDER: You as well, Rachel. Cheers.

(SOUNDBITE OF SABZI'S "SMOKER'S COUGH")

1 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。

2 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

3 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

4 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

5 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）

6 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

7 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

9 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

10 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

11 giggling   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We just sat there giggling like naughty schoolchildren. 我们只是坐在那儿像调皮的小学生一样的咯咯地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I can't stand her giggling, she's so silly. 她吃吃地笑，叫我真受不了，那样子傻透了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

13 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

14 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

15 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

16 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

17 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

18 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

19 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

20 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

21 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

22 similes   

（使用like或as等词语的）明喻( simile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Similes usually start with "like" or "as". 明喻通常以like或as开头。
• All similes and allegories concerning her began and ended with birds. 要比仿她，要模拟她，总得以鸟类始，还得以鸟类终。

23 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

24 stanza   

n.（诗）节，段

参考例句：

• We omitted to sing the second stanza.我们漏唱了第二节。
• One young reporter wrote a review with a stanza that contained some offensive content.一个年轻的记者就歌词中包含有攻击性内容的一节写了评论。

25 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。

26 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

27 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

28 cornucopia   

n.象征丰收的羊角

参考例句：

• The book is a cornucopia of information.书是知识的宝库。
• Our cornucopia is the human mind and heart.我们富足是由于人类的智慧和热情。

29 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

30 innovator   

n.改革者；创新者

参考例句：

• The young technical innovator didn't lose heart though the new system was not yet brought into a workable condition. 尽管这种新方法尚未达到切实可行的状况，这位青年技术革新者也没有泄气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Caesar planned vast projects and emerged as a great innovator. 恺撒制定了庞大的革新计划。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史