Thank you and Goodbye

With inimitable grit and grace you adopted child of Venus and Mars

Once again you elevated us fleetingly from the earth to the stars

The greatest miracle you conjured rekindling smothered inspiration

Your every drop of perspiration instilling to the multitudes motivation

Yet at your greatest triumph a melancholic thought in me persists

Of an inevitable day when your body or mind from court fight desists

On which poignant words or flourishing phrases can we rely

When you lay down your racket and tell us thank you and goodbye

https://youtu.be/R8niyG-cPgs

A Fortnight ago

A fortnight ago the King returned to the court
With expectations of an ending like the Alamo fort
Only a single being felt that Fed stood a veterans chance
‘Twas his trusted racket which upon catching his glance
Its strings weakened and broke until it finally spoke

“Oh Roger come and remove my covers
Unsheathe me and once again will be like lovers
Let us be one again like the days of old
When to our erotic dance opponents could only fold
Undress me softly and gently my handle caress
As only you know how to work magic I must confess
Erecting monuments of beauty is our only creed
Spurting forth of future legends the seed
Imagine fans ejaculating cheers for us once more
Our story becoming an Australian summer lore”

Two men from qualifying proved but a mild itch
Zverev and Berdych were beat with hardly a glitch
Kei Stan and Rafa brought him to the fifth-set brink
Though to his legend’s story they just added more ink
For in the year two thousand and seventeen
It seems as if the fates and tennis gods agreed
The seventeen slam champion and seventeen seed
Would finally win grand slam number eighteen

After seven matches in which he gave it all
It was the great Swiss that stood yet again tall
A sly smile etched on Roger’s serene face
As his racket he smothered in his embrace
All in the courts that he stepped in a fortnight ago

Beauty or the Beast

Here we stand now on the great finals eve
Expecting the fiercest battle since Adam’s with Eve
No person can stay neutral or his opinion hide
Just as for marmite we each must pick a side
So on perhaps the ultimate for the eyes tennis feast
Are you rooting for the beauty or perchance the beast?

One the looks of Cary Grant and the movement of Fred Aster
The other in a dark alley would cause you to go faster
One so serene that only occasionally his face forms a frown
The other grunting so loud intimidating his way to the crown
One elegance and style of gentlemen from another age
The other could just as easily belong in a chimpanzee cage

So have you decided for tomorrows great tennis feast
Are you rooting for the beauty or perchance the beast?

Memory lane

With the summit as his aim Grigor mastered his game
For his failure today he is honestly not to blame
For the tennis gods decreed Rafa to prevail
Thus Dimitrov's valiant efforts came to no avail
But great days for him are certain ahead

Time spares no one it withers us all
Even if with the racket you can dazzle a ball
Roger and Rafa are sadly no exception
So please forgive me a moment of affection

Roger and Rafa take us to memory lane
Images spring forth of joy and pain
The finals on clay where Roger's dream lay
Battles on grass which were of a different class
The burn of tear trails in the court of Melbourne

And what about you my dear reader?
Since their Aussie final of two thousand and nine
Your memories arising of days gone by
as Roger and Rafa takes you down memory lane
have you filled your life with joy or pain?

Seven and Eighteen

Six men weighed and found wanting
To block what seems Destiny’s longing
A return to the throne of the great tennis man 
The greatest comeback since Ali grilled Foreman

Now a seventh the King must face
Hoping to take our hero’s place
It could be the young Dimitrov
With a game truly most beautiful
Or most probably in a retro final
Across the net will be his greatest rival
The ferocious warrior they call Nadal
Who to be honest can be somewhat banal

Soon we will find who the seventh shall be
Whoever may be it will not be routine
It will be a real fight for slam eighteen

The best and the rest

Stan gave his all to plunder Roger’s grandeur 
In a brutal encounter in the courts down under
Behold how the balls from Stan’s racket explode
How he huffed and puffed his game is no bluff
For common men it can be so humbling
To witness great champions like titans struggling
Stan and Roger fought valiantly to the end
Sadly each age can have only one legend
Thin is the line between the best and the rest
After five sets once again the King past the test
Carving to our memories another moment of glory
I can not help but wonder if there is an end to his story

Destiny's dice

Steely Stan is a scary big man
 With a single-minded ruthless plan
Broken men to send to their homeland
Victims of a fierce one-hand backhand

To his marvellous alter of power
Unfortunate opponents must cower
Not a mere Swiss number two
He’s won three grand slams too

With variety and flair must Roger slowly peel
The game and spirit of the man of steel
With drop-shots and volleys and slice
In his favour to bias destiny’s dice

And when Sunday’s final becomes reality
Perchance with history’s pull
We may get to witness finally
The slaying of the old Spanish bull