From Yeats to McCants
roses are red, violets are blue…
Rashad McCants, the enigmatic second year guard of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is apparently putting together a poetry book (scroll to bottom of the page) which he hopes to have completed by midseason. Maybe this is why he was such an emotional dude on the court in his rookie year.
Here’s a sample of his work :
he came to me with open arms, like a hawk embracing his young,
and he fed me food out his mouth but I was starving for knowledge.
the type of knowledge that can’t be fed by hand or voice, but by heart.
so when he spoke he touched my soul, and my soul would smack me if I didn’t listen
the words he spoke weren’t for the ears to hear.
because his words were real, it’s hard to hear the truth when lies are so loud.
I put my earphones on so I can hear nothing and see everything.
lies could never steal my attention when he …
he … spoke.
The eyes never lie. and when he spoke he wore no glasses.
he wanted me to see the truth, which was? that everyone wears glasses to protect lies,
truth? glasses? lies?
sounds like earth, sounds like humans, sounds like America.
but if that’s so where is he from? not from here, he has no glasses!
there was an aura, a light, a truth, about him.
special? never. different? maybe. human? impossible. so I asked him one question to expect one answer
when you walk and talk and teach how come everyone can stare at your light, your aura, your truth?
because we are the same.
Of course, McCants isn’t the only NBAer with a poetic side to him; JJ Redick’s stuff appeared in Sports Illustrated a little while back, and Etan Thomas is a published author.
If I were David Stern, I’d make all three battle it out at All-Star weekend in some kind of poetry slam. But hey, that’s just me.
10 Responses to “From Yeats to McCants”
Sep.20 at 9:25 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Shouldn’t the poetry slam be sponsored by SLAM?
Sep.20 at 9:46 pm
Garreth says:
Wow that is really bad. I must say, however, it’s nice to see an NBA player put it out there.
Sep.20 at 10:31 pm
Dblizzy! says:
JJ’s stuff was aight, on the surface he doesn’t seem that deep. I wonder if he wrote those after getting boozed up one night. Maybe he doesn’t even remember writing them.
Sep.20 at 10:52 pm
Chris O'Leary says:
An obvious (but funny, to me anyway) poem about JJ Redick Coors Lite beercaps are red
Bud Lite’s are blue
Heinekens are sweet
Oh shit, a checkstop.
Sep.20 at 10:57 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
That poem is either about Jesus or Roy Williams.
Sep.20 at 11:03 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Rashad should stick to his day job.
Sep.21 at 9:08 am
Marcel Mutoni says:
i don’t care what any of you say, Rashad is genius. you’s a genius, kid!
Sep.21 at 10:11 am
nic says:
“my soul would smack me if I didn’t listen” man, that ish is DEEP. like we all havent felt that way! i mean, i might have writted “my soul would issue the critical beatdown if i didn’t listen” but theres no need to get all bogged down in minutae. preach, rashad, preach!
Sep.21 at 2:59 pm
albie1kenobi says:
i like Tar Heels and i like the wolves… but did McCants do anything last year? didn’t hear from him at all. what happened to all those UNC guys after winning the championship?
Jan.7 at 9:55 am
Harlem World says:
I know this is old, but it is so bad I had to comment. This is exceptionally poor. If this were entered into some poetry slam? Consider this a rejection. Homeslice can’t even graze the rim with this.