{"id":13767,"date":"2020-12-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/four-poems-by-dorsey-craft\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T16:27:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T21:27:33","slug":"four-poems-by-dorsey-craft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2020\/12\/07\/four-poems-by-dorsey-craft\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-content-justification-right is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-765c4724 wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-facebook  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61556140010887\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-instagram  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/boudin_mcneese\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12,4.622c2.403,0,2.688,0.009,3.637,0.052c0.877,0.04,1.354,0.187,1.671,0.31c0.42,0.163,0.72,0.358,1.035,0.673 c0.315,0.315,0.51,0.615,0.673,1.035c0.123,0.317,0.27,0.794,0.31,1.671c0.043,0.949,0.052,1.234,0.052,3.637 s-0.009,2.688-0.052,3.637c-0.04,0.877-0.187,1.354-0.31,1.671c-0.163,0.42-0.358,0.72-0.673,1.035 c-0.315,0.315-0.615,0.51-1.035,0.673c-0.317,0.123-0.794,0.27-1.671,0.31c-0.949,0.043-1.233,0.052-3.637,0.052 s-2.688-0.009-3.637-0.052c-0.877-0.04-1.354-0.187-1.671-0.31c-0.42-0.163-0.72-0.358-1.035-0.673 c-0.315-0.315-0.51-0.615-0.673-1.035c-0.123-0.317-0.27-0.794-0.31-1.671C4.631,14.688,4.622,14.403,4.622,12 s0.009-2.688,0.052-3.637c0.04-0.877,0.187-1.354,0.31-1.671c0.163-0.42,0.358-0.72,0.673-1.035 c0.315-0.315,0.615-0.51,1.035-0.673c0.317-0.123,0.794-0.27,1.671-0.31C9.312,4.631,9.597,4.622,12,4.622 M12,3 C9.556,3,9.249,3.01,8.289,3.054C7.331,3.098,6.677,3.25,6.105,3.472C5.513,3.702,5.011,4.01,4.511,4.511 c-0.5,0.5-0.808,1.002-1.038,1.594C3.25,6.677,3.098,7.331,3.054,8.289C3.01,9.249,3,9.556,3,12c0,2.444,0.01,2.751,0.054,3.711 c0.044,0.958,0.196,1.612,0.418,2.185c0.23,0.592,0.538,1.094,1.038,1.594c0.5,0.5,1.002,0.808,1.594,1.038 c0.572,0.222,1.227,0.375,2.185,0.418C9.249,20.99,9.556,21,12,21s2.751-0.01,3.711-0.054c0.958-0.044,1.612-0.196,2.185-0.418 c0.592-0.23,1.094-0.538,1.594-1.038c0.5-0.5,0.808-1.002,1.038-1.594c0.222-0.572,0.375-1.227,0.418-2.185 C20.99,14.751,21,14.444,21,12s-0.01-2.751-0.054-3.711c-0.044-0.958-0.196-1.612-0.418-2.185c-0.23-0.592-0.538-1.094-1.038-1.594 c-0.5-0.5-1.002-0.808-1.594-1.038c-0.572-0.222-1.227-0.375-2.185-0.418C14.751,3.01,14.444,3,12,3L12,3z M12,7.378 c-2.552,0-4.622,2.069-4.622,4.622S9.448,16.622,12,16.622s4.622-2.069,4.622-4.622S14.552,7.378,12,7.378z M12,15 c-1.657,0-3-1.343-3-3s1.343-3,3-3s3,1.343,3,3S13.657,15,12,15z M16.804,6.116c-0.596,0-1.08,0.484-1.08,1.08 s0.484,1.08,1.08,1.08c0.596,0,1.08-0.484,1.08-1.08S17.401,6.116,16.804,6.116z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Instagram<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Dorsey Craft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong><strong>My Football Team is Winning<\/strong> (III)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And my granddaddy&#8217;s still dead. He swats<br>an almighty yellow jacket from a star-soaked<br>can of Coke while our tailgate moves farther<br>out on the asphalt grid. We&#8217;ve got a healthy<br>lead. We&#8217;ve got a blond quarterback with eyes<br>like the last two red salmon pouting pink face<br>to face in a river that forgot rock,<br>forgot North. When I couldn&#8217;t read the score<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><br>they gave me glasses, and the grit smoothed in<br>to smother. When the blond drops back to pass<br>his footwork blesses deviled eggs, cold ham.<br>If he slings an interception, settle<br>in, belt out a rag. If my granddaddy&#8217;s<br>an angel, blow the whistle, throw the flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong><strong>My Football Team is Winning<\/strong> (IV)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I tell the robot play ocean sounds and drift<br>into a dream where our quarterback<br>licks my feet, lavishes my cracked instep,<br>whispers his signal calls between my toes,<br>spills our saliva playbook down my heel<br>in a tonguing I understand foretells<br>another championship, thick rings, fat tears.<br>I am no Nebuchadnezzar, begging<br>Daniel to speak symbol into iron<br>and clay\u2014kingdom after kingdom statued<br>in the mauve unconscious of a tyrant.<br>Metaphor is a mascot, tongue-less<br>in the dark of a dank summer locker.<br>When I wake, it&#8217;s Saturday, autumn crisp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong><strong>My Football Team is Winning<\/strong> (V)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Coach climbs to the top of the stadium,<br>stretches out his arms to feel the<br>presence<br>of the Living God, wreaths of rain-soaked<br>wisteria. In the grocery store, Coach<br>places my hand at the end of the ball,<br>tucks the other end between my elbow<br>and my right breast. Coach sprints forty yards<br>to call a timeout. Coach knows his passion<br>will be rewarded. He has special<br>affinity for receivers of his<br>own height, weight, and skin color. Coach is filled<br>with the spirit of dance, spilling like salt<br>and honey into his open skull, rising like<br>a hot gold hymn, like a terrible prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong><strong>My Football Team is Winning<\/strong> (VI)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A song, he says, the best, is yet to come:<br>a rag for the WR whose fingers<br>spider twenty inches, sing a camera flash<br>cradling a grey kitten, a white mouse,<br>the best hands in the NFL, direct<br>delivery from the Carolina<br>upstate. I bellow the low note, the third<br>down sound that drowns my mind, the snap count,<br>the falconer screaming for his beast<br>over eighty-thousand in a sun-scooped bowl.<br>The kicker took off a wing when he whiffed<br>wide-right, and we sucked our teeth, soaked handprints<br>in the smalls of our mothers&#8217; backs, the size<br>of silver dollars stacked on a flat wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Dorsey Craft<\/strong>\u2019s debut collection, <em>Plunder<\/em>, won the 2019 May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in <em>Alaska Quarterly Review<\/em>, <em>Colorado Review<\/em>, <em>Gulf Coast<\/em>, <em>Massachusetts Review<\/em>, <em>Poetry Daily<\/em>, <em>Salt Hill<\/em>, <em>Shenandoah<\/em>, <em>Southern Indiana Review<\/em> and elsewhere. She lives in Lake City, Florida and serves as Poetry Editor for <em>Southeast Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>__________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"438\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg 438w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">&lt;&lt; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2020\/12\/07\/double-sonnet-in-race-by-prince-bush\/\">Back<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2020\/12\/07\/parable-by-j-bruce-fuller\/\">Next<\/a> &gt;&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">To learn more about submitting your work to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/boudin-submissions\/\">Boudin<\/a><\/em> or applying to McNeese State University&#8217;s Creative Writing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/mfa-application-submissions\/\">MFA program<\/a>, please visit Submissions for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dorsey Craft __________ My Football Team is Winning (III) And my granddaddy&#8217;s still dead. He swatsan almighty yellow jacket from a star-soakedcan of Coke while our tailgate moves fartherout on the asphalt grid. We&#8217;ve got a healthylead. We&#8217;ve got a blond quarterback with eyeslike the last two red salmon pouting pink faceto face in a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[202],"tags":[75,108,18],"class_list":["post-13767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-football-20-boudin","tag-boudin","tag-football","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21131,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13767\/revisions\/21131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}