Warmest Welcomes My Auspicious Audience,

We continue through the remainder of our stay in Lyon. The furious fight for a black and white ball, or the ever-blooming nature that lies beyond it all, blazes by my eyes. Some moments being in dazes and some with wide eyes.

May you envision the lens of my experience.

Poem Explanation:

On our last day in Marseille, we went to see the women’s football game between France and Columbia. It had been a rather busy day for me and it began to wear down upon me as the game approached. However, this is not to say the game was not riveting in every sense of the word! I would venture to say the game itself was more exciting than the men's game we had seen prior.

I began this poem as a play off Kendrick Lamar’s song “Swimming Pools.” It seemed that I would “blank” out every few moments and arise to witness another spectacular play. 

I explore the dichotomy of my being in the lines “My body yearns for bed covers//My soul yearns for the moment.” Though my physical being was exhausted, my psychological being was thrilled beyond comparison. It was a difficult fight between the two,

I revisit this battle in the following lines. “Excitement savors, beg a long stay” is a testament to my psychological being’s wishes.

“Mais la somnolence est séduisante” is French and translates to “but drowsiness is seductive.” This is a testament to my physical being’s fall into the temptations of sleep. I translated this line into french because of its ties to my physical being and that I was physically in France, though I carried with me an American (english) mind.

The line “Attentive to my goals to keep” has two meanings. The first is a soccer reference to a goalkeeper catching a ball. The ball in this sense being my attention. The second is to the many goals scored that the anticipation for had woke me from “the dreary dregs of sleep.”

Finally, the last two lines are attributed to France claiming victory over Columbia.

Poem Explanation:

This poem explores the brief and beautiful experience of switzerland.

The first line is an acknowledgement of the impactful nature of cheese in swiss culture, whilst reflecting my joy at witnessing the culture myself.

I continue in the next five lines to discuss the breathtaking exquisite nature that Switzerland possesses. I often have remarked ever since that I completely understand why they are rated one of the happiest countries in the world. You could never hate life with scenery so extraordinary

While in Switzerland, we first visited the Olympics museum. Outside the gates of the museum, families openly swam in the crystal clear waters next to the sidewalk. I envied them greatly.

The following three lines are a tribute to a unique Olympic story we were told by our guide in the Museum. It was the story of Jesse Owens and Lutz Long. 

The two competed in a dazzling competition. They broke record after record in long jump. In the end Owens was victorious. Long was still overjoyed for his newfound rival. This sparked a lifelong friendship.

I utilized the words “no ends” and “looks long” for their auditory similarity to “Owens” and “Lutz Long.” The line “I leap and bound” describes the sport that nourished their rivalry into a friendship. Furthermore, since Owens was victorious, I put his name first and described the leap as being towards Long who was second.

The line “Over Nike’s grounds//I had to just do it” begins as a tribute to Nike, the god of victory, who was featured on many gold medals in the past. It then transferred to reference the brand nike through their motto “Just do it.” I did this due to the overwhelming amount of athletes sponsored by nike in the olympics.