Poetry

AP photo

By

Patricia Phillips-Batoma

Last call

Here comes Hochuli with the call

out of the grid-iron sun

legis, legs and sculpted biceps

bring form and clarity

to our gray uncertainties

passes – complete or incomplete

penalties – upheld or declined

in bright, clear

black and white lines.

Here comes the toss

these lines

from the least likely

line of scrimmage

to an intended receiver

whether or where

they will touch down

is your call.

Patricia Phillips-Batoma

Patricia Phillips-Batoma is a French to English translator and a lecturer in the MA Program in Translation and Interpreting Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She earned her PhD in French literature from UIUC and her BA in French from Temple University in Philadelphia.