Jim Thorpe Poem by Ravi Panamanna

(Jim Thorpe, Olympian / Football Player / Baseball Player Born: 28 May 1887 Birthplace: Oklahoma Died: 28 March 1953. He had to forfeit his two gold medals that he had won in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in the name of having played base ball for money! Though these medals were finally restored after decades, he had already left these shores for his heavenly abode!)

From an Oklahoma home
I am hearing an endless hymn.
It is winter blanketing the streets,
It is the sun signing off to a long night.

The street lamps are opening their eyes,
A star is waking in the Western sky.
A lonsome bird is returning home,
Wind is whispering unto the rushing waves.

The theme is of lost dales,
Pleasant meads and a lingering tale;
Unto the pastures of glorious moments
An Ode recalls a sad event.

In Pentathlon and Decathlon
He had won two Olympic medals-
They had brought him accolades,
They brought him misfortune too.

To meet a square meal
He had chosen to be professional.
He had played base ball for money,
The world discovered and finally stole his honey.

That was the charge-sheet,
That finally brought him his fate.
He lost his golden possession
And for the rest of life, was in long rumination.

It was a long, unbearable wait,
It was but only a thickening night.
He was cleanly swept,
He, for long nights wept.

In the changing trends of time
He hoped for a restoration.
But it remained only a wish
He soon left his mortal cage.

From an Oklahoma street
I am hearing a dying heart.
A champion makes a final lap
Leaving behind legacy in the Olympic map.

After decades
The medals were finally restored.
But the champion no more needed them,
He had left the shores leaving behind a glorious theme.