Coach Losing His Daughter

She stares at his players
who turn him into aging wood,
make him sexless as his little finger.
When he tries to talk to her,
his sentences dissolve, the nouns
and verbs all floating mute
into the sky's blue ear. 
He knows why his players 
lift and curl. He sees them 
tightening their belts. Bodies 
that well built should build 
a house, knock a bully 
on his can.  But after practice, 
Coach can only see his daughter 
getting in their cars, feel 
their muscles sweating on her skin.

From Losing Season by Jack Ridl. Copyright © 2009 by Jack Ridl. Used by permission of CavanKerry Press. All rights reserved.