Many of you may or may not know that 10 years ago I had a poem that placed in the top 100 poems in America for a poem about the Oklahoma City Bombing, I guess only good material for my poems comes 1 time every 10 years...so see you all in 2015, but til then here is my original poem T'was the Night Before Wrestling which I wrote last Friday night and just got the copyright on via email today. Only Furches has heard this so enjoy:

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T'was the Night Before Wrestling


By Aaron “The Swayz” Sweazy


T’was the night before wrestling,

And all through the state,

Young warriors were busy,

Avoiding food on their plate.


The children then bundled under layers in bed,

While dreaming of making weight,

Just to be fed.


The Parents arose early with coffee in hand,

Trying to strategize,

How many would fit in their van.


While running and sweating,

Clothes soaked and damp,

Please let the kids make it,

So they won’t start to cramp.


Ounce by Ounce, Drip by Drip,

Only time will tell,

Then the moment arrives,

As they step on the scale.


A sigh and smile,

Then to the cafeteria,

Where eyes widen at menus,

Causing hysteria.


Oh bagels, fruit,

Pancakes and Ham,

Oh donuts, granola,

Biscuits and jam.


Then shortly after,

The tourney begins,

Pitting each other,

Against best of friends.


A scrambling scurry,

So live and so quick,

They gave it their all,

Down to the last tic.


A tearful opponent,

A shake of the hand,

They both realized,

Who was the better man.


Dejected, defeated ,

He shuffled his feet,

Even his coach knew,

He had his man beat.


Then a kind old man,

Went up to the lad,

With a pat on the back,

Saying, “Don’t be so sad.”


“You win some, you lose some,

out on the mat,

One week 0-2,

The next week the champ!”


The kid’s frown turned up,

And so did his chin,

Ear to cauliflower ear,

A smile began.


The old man skedaddled,

Knowing the time,

But felt inclined to drive away,

With one last thing in mind.


He unwound the window,

With booming voice so great,

“Best of luck on the season,

and see you at State!”

well done!

Okay Swayz I usually don't put my AP English Skills to the test, but here's one not Christmas but just a wrestling poem.

The Champion

First day of the year,
All the wrestlers are filled with fear,
Verterans are running the show,
The youngest ones are just barely in the known,

The first whistle blows,
Then the coach goes...
"Circle up lets have a chat",
So all the wrestlers young and old alike gather around the mat,

As he says "We are team!",
He started thinking about his dream,
I want to be a State Champ,
It all started way back during the summer at that camp,

I've made up my mind,
I will not be the arrogant kind,
I will put my mind to it,
I really think I can do it,

I will have to work on my style,
I cannot be lazy kid that works once in a while,
I don't want to have any regrets,
I want to be the unknown kid that earns the upset,

I don't care about special awards,
I just want to earn that special accord,
There is only one for place for me to be,
That is atop the podium for all to see.

Twas the night before wrestling, and all through the state
All the wrestlers were stirring and wondering their weight,
The singlets washed and packed with a prayer,
And dreaming the officials would only be fair.

The wrestlers and their sweats were wrestless in bed,
While all they could think of was when they’d get fed,
Mom praying quietly, Dad tossing and turning,
Your stomach starts flipping, and your heart starts burning.

It’s 6:00 and the alarm starts to rings,
You pray they are strong, you gave them their wings
They peel off the covers and fly to the scale,
In hopes that sleeping in sweats didnt let them fail.

Away to the school they drive in a race,
See who can get there in the fastest pace,
They make their weight and now searching for food,
Anything at this point looks really good!

Got into my car and to the restaurant I flew,
Only to meet up with the rest of my crew,
Ham, Bacon, Pancakes and Eggs,
One more banana to avoid cramps in the legs!

Back to the school and board the big bus,
The moves that we will use we do not discuss,
We only at this point cannot hesitate,
It’s all up to us, as we can only meditate!

We reach our destination and time to unload,
The first name in my bracket he ain’t no toad,
We put on our singlets, pads, and sweats,
It’s all up to me, there will be no regrets.

My name was announced I will be up in a few,
The coach is looking for me that’s my que,
The sweats come off, I am focused now,
My hand was raised, but I don’t know how.

The coach for me flew out of his chair,
As I recall that was really rare,
He was a state champ that was good on feet,
But when the whistle blew he had gotten beat!


The rest of the day was full of surprises,
With wrestlers coming in all different sizes,
We all wrestled well and stole the show,
We have gotten our medals it’s time to go.

We loaded the bus for the fun ride home,
Once on the bus we were free to roam,
The wrestlers, the giggles, the stories they’d tell
If it weren’t for the coaches they would of rung our bell!

We finally get back to the school that night,
We get pillows and our bag and go home with no fight,
Our parents attended today so them we thank,
All the good memories are now in the bank!
~tlr
12-20-05

well i just have to say you guys are good

That stuff puts a tear to my eye.

i agree....well written and thought out....some parts didn't flow real well but they were creative and fun to read

This came to me after practice last night


Twelve Days of Wrestling Practice

On the 1st day of wrestling practice my Coach gave to me...One Technical Violation

On the 2nd day of wrestling practice my Coach gave to me...Two Pound Allowance

On the 3rd day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Three Nearfalls

On the 4th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Four Stalling Calls

On the 5th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Five Point Lat Drop

On the 6th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Six Ankle Picks

On the 7th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Seven Cement Mixers

On the 8th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Eight Bloody Noses

On the 9th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Nine Cross Faces

On the 10th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Ten Sucker Drags

On the 11th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Eleven Takedowns

On the 12th day of wrestling practice my coach gave to me...Twelve Days of no Food

Not too shabby there cody. Hows school goin?