Olympics, Day 13

I'm watching curling,
Maybe my fav'rite game,
Canada's women are up by one point,
Tenth end 'gainst Great Britain,

The Brits are looking quite stressed at this time,
The Canucks got hammer,
They have just been playing it really safe,
Though you can still see a little swagger,

Because this is the thing about this sport,
If you throw perfectly,
There's no way you can act'lly lose a match,
It's all 'bout strategy,

Like life, some say,
You are responsible,
We don't have two rocks hugging the centre,
From slumping on our couch all miserable.

Olympics, Day 10

Putin's day of visits,
To the athlete's village,
Included a stop by Canada House,
It was quite an image,

Forget how you feel 'bout his politics,
The law 'gainst gays alone,
Begs the question why all the athletes swooned,
'Stead of protests by phone,

Martin Luther King Junior even said,
The king of non-violence,
That life begins to end when we're silent,
In face of importance,

When we should act,
Because it's obvious,
In the presence of human rights abuse,
We must speak out to defend all of us.

Olympics, Day 9

Wow, speed skating is great,
May as well be flying,
Rarely more than one razor blade on ice,
All the chips on timing,

All about when you need to make that move,
To end up in the lead,
Hair breadths 'tween you and the other skaters,
It sure is similar to life, indeed!

Death, loss, and unbelievable success,
All are so much the same,
Finger tips keeping you from falling down,
Fighting despite the pain,

This is where sport,
Can teach us a lesson,
No matter how hard you work in this world,
You can e'er get fucked by others visions.

Olympics, Day 7

I have to ask myself,
Watching men figure skate,
'What is a quad-toe-triple-toe combo,'
And open the debate,

What really should count as an achievement?
If I gave gold medals,
For being the fastest up a ladder,
Would countries still spend millions of sheckles?

Would people wave flags and paint their faces?
I think the answer's 'yes'm',
Not for the excellence of the challenge,
But nationalism,

But I'm unfair,
The athletes are elite,
And their achievenments trump national pride,
Their commitment, victory or defeat.

The Olympics, Day 6

Let's talk 'bout Sarah Burke,
Died two thousand and twelve,
Aft' a fairly routine fall in Utah,
So disappears the helve,

Of the saber that cleaved the way for those,
Who live by the halfpipe,
That now can compete in the Olympics,
Somewhere Sarah never got to reside,

Lauded by skiers internashnally,
For giving birth to it,
She would have won a gold medal this year,
But for the accident.

Now all who win,
Like our Darrel Howell,
'Spite not being 'llowed her sticker,
 Still dedicate their medals to that gal.

The Olympics, Day 5

I know it's one person,
So judgement should be held,
On the beliefs of an entire country,
But, what the fucking hell?!

Someone like coach of an Olympic team,
Like Alex Arefyev,
I expect wouldn't opine out of turn,
Especially in the former state of red,

So to say women "create hearth and home",
In a flippant manner,
Speaks to the accepted mores of his home,
And all of his neighbours.

Guess it's no shock,
Though it's disappointing,
Not to sound like a moral elitist,
But his views suggest he's misunderstanding.

The Olympics, Day 4

I guess before it's o'er,
I shouldn't let them go,
Without a comment on this whole gay thing,
In the Olympics home,

Two thousand, fourteen Russian Fed'ration,
There's this law, don't you know,
Passed last June barring the propaganda,
Of gay rights to minors, but you can show,

Vidyos of gays being lured to a trap,
Then humiliated,
Because somehow that doesn't break a law,
Why are they so hated?

I mean really?
There's no logic okay?
The act itself is solely about love,
Yet treated like they are all about hate.

The Olympics, Day 3

It actu'lly makes me cry,
Though, I'm a cry-yee sis,
Seeing the Dufour sisters holding hands,
'Fore climbing the dais,

An experience I'll ne'er have in life,
'Magine how fantastic,
Three sisters grow up together in sport,
And they ride a path to the Olympics,

Shared exper'ence strengthens their real'ty,
Giving it a real truth,
Sisterhood trumping any jealousy,
That might threaten the truce.

E'en the eldest,
Denied any medal,
Lives in a world where family ties trump,
The temptation of pers'nal regret's hell.

Olympics, Day 2

We all knew there'd be fears,
Of trouble in Sochi,
Starting with Volgograd in October,
And Umarov's decree,

Then there is the fear of the Black Widows,
Is Russia's thin facade,
As permyeeble as the United States,
In its dealings with Bashar al-Assad?

Now someone hijacked a plane wanting flight,
To Sochi to alert,
His countrymen of some vague, unknown threat,
He's prob'ly just berzerk.

Still, makes you think,
What's still coming from there,
'Tween violence 'gainst gays and Chechnyan unrest,
Athletic prowess may take second chair.

Olympics, Day 1

Olympics start today,
In Putin's resort stop,
Sochi, home of Russia's Formula One,
And Two-Eighteen's World Cup,

It hasn't seen much controversy since,
Early nineteen hundreds,
When it officially joined Russian lands,
Aft years of territorial bloodshed,

Now it's the face of a country that laughs,
At western rationale,
Strong, with allies China and Syria,
Thought's not universal,

It is fleeting,
With lessons quickly lost,
Like someone who can't let go of a slight,
No matter the interpersonal cost.

A New Place On The Map

They're eighty-nine more towns,
'Til the Olympic Torch,
Makes it to southern city Volgograd,
Where a bus has been scorched,

By an Islamist suicide bomber,
The video's online,
From a group led by Doku Umarov,
A Chechnyan rebel with a thousand lives,

Who has lifted a moratorium,
On attacks on Russia,
In order to disrupt the Sochi games.
Now you wonder, donchya,

Why, when you think,
Of the world map these days,
Do countries appear and then disappear,
Based on the violence and deaths that's been staged?