seasons
daddy
im sure the creole slipped off of your tongue
as you peered from your rooftop in roselawn
to see the scoreboard at riverbend stadium
you heard the crowd go wild and you yelled
geaux bengals
and hooted loudly until
your mother told you it was time for dinner
you dreamed of being bigger than big
you wanted to call the plays on the turf
you needed to run this town
that had birthed you as your haitian heritage
got lost in between one of cincinnati's seven hills
and you dreamed a dream as american as skyline chili
thirty years later
many seasons have gone by and you have coached
in every major arena under the sun but you always
wanted to go back to the five one three
and be the hometown hero you never
wanted to forget that you were spoon fed stoop dreams
remembered legendary passes from your rooftop
its october and seasons change as they always do
the fall always makes me think of you
as you suit up in whatever color is appropriate
for the city we are living in for the year
for the month
for the moment
but i knew as soon as you put on a cap
colored orange and black you felt like
you had come full circle
at home games when i'm in town when our team touches down
you'll look up at the stands and point at me
always
and when you're away in seattle
atlanta
new york
chicago
and we make a big play i know you're doing the same
i called you today after we won and you were
crying
we hadn't been number 1 since 1988 before
i could walk and before michael was born
a different season in your life when you could only dream
that you'd be on the team
roster
daddy
i'll never understand the man
behind smile and the ray bans but
as the seasons change
as they always do
i'll be in the stands
every chance i can
cheering for you
