varsity

Can you imagine: I used to be a team captain; I used to wear a red,
white and black badge above my calf. I led us to victory!

I have varsity letters stitched on sweaters.
I was kissed and coveted by cheerleaders.

I was once "all-American" or at least so I thought.
Maybe not.

God, it is so hot! I've scratched at my skin
trying to carve your name and all my
desires into the top layer of this
epidermis;

Futility. Empires. The futility of empires.

"Only you can prevent wildfires," at least
that's what a big brown bear said to me
from the center of a dream of reality;
or was it a reality of a dream?

Spiking veins with metal-tipped sharp things;
to think: I used to be the captain,

I used to make it happen. Now, I'm washed up yet dirty
in a dark room nobody will ever see.

Buffoonery. A farce. A farce of a buffoon’s history. Varsity?