One Kick
by Colm Keegan
(from Caught in Amber)
One kick, one tiny flick
Of his two year old foot
And I was hooked.
No matter what
His mother did
My chubby, soccer mad little kid
Would feel my care
Forever.
But I never,
Saw a day like this
When his broken mother’s courtroom kiss
Would be all he’d have
For the next ten years.
No sun filled summers,
No glittering careers.
Just tears
And regret
For the man he bet.
And the way
one flick,
One drunk and deadly,
too strong kick,
Can crush a skull.