The Coach Poem by Jake Gollon

Let me tell you about The Coach,
The only true hero I’d ever meet,
He’d lay himself down instead,
Just to lift you on your feet.

He spoke joyous words with his every breath,
An idol of sorts considering my age.
He preached with life instead of death,
And brought the peace that calmed my rage.

He seemed proud to lead an army of kids,
Like it was everything he’d dreamed.
But sooner than later I’d come to find,
Something inside was bursting his seams.

Ignorant to the realities of life,
I was a boy, and it was all I knew.
His smile just seemed to be so real,
And what happened next, nobody knew..

Just like that, he left the place,
And with him went the fun we had.
At 12 I struggled to understand
What it meant to lose a friend.

I remember his smile when I ran the mile,
Cuz I then called the record mine.
But I found that he smiled at every child,
As they crossed the finish line.

He’d taught me things I’d never forget.
Like the message a smile can send,
or that a man with heart will never lose,
No matter the score in the end.

It would be some time till we met again,
But I'd count each day and night.
We never quite knew his reason to leave,
But something told me it wasn’t right.

Then one day as we paced the square,
Lying alone was a man with a hat.
With a second glance he caught my stare,
Cuz you remember a smile like that.

Some had forgotten about the Coach,
He’d up and left us that day in class.
A moment and chance lay in front of me,
And I wasn’t about to let it pass.

His drunken mind took rest on the curb
While his eyes had puddled with tears.
I slowed my walk and stopped in awe
to see The Coach after all these years.

I humbly stepped myself his way,
As he squinted hard to see.
Then he slowly stood up tall and said,
'Jake? Do you remember me? '

I said, “of course Coach, I do”
and I did the only thing that fit
I looked him deep in his eyes and said,
“How could I forget…”