Welcome to this thing Called Breathing

Note:  First, bravo to the newly out Derrick Gordon, the first first openly gay player in Division I men’s college basketball history, who’s coming out inspired the article which is the subject of this work.  This is a poetic form called a snowball.  Poets’ must start with a line of just one word of just one letter.  The next line is a single word of two letters.  The one following is a single word of three letters and so on up to, in the case of the poem, 13. 

Sources: Senne,  Steve. “UMass athlete comes out” Springfield Republican  [Springfield] April  9, 2014:  A1  (photo).  E-edition.

              Malone, Daniel. “UMass athlete comes out” Springfield Republican  [Springfield] April  9, 2014:  A1 and A-2.   E-edition.

A

on

the

live

shame

hiding

college

physique

outsiders

understood

orientation

selflessness

encourage­ment

A minute to go

(a Center for New Americans Poem)
One minute
to write a poem.
I type
quickly
and breathe.