Today I became King
of the Court without a diamond-
encrusted crown thrust upon
my sweaty head. Instead
my markings of royalty
were the t-shirt draping
my body like a robe soaked
in champagne & the pain
in my right knee — a sign
of a battle endured, my will
tested & bested by none
as the ball flew off my hands
as swift as an arrow toward
the heart of a target — my fingers
ringless yet feeling like gold.
of the Court without a diamond-
encrusted crown thrust upon
my sweaty head. Instead
my markings of royalty
were the t-shirt draping
my body like a robe soaked
in champagne & the pain
in my right knee — a sign
of a battle endured, my will
tested & bested by none
as the ball flew off my hands
as swift as an arrow toward
the heart of a target — my fingers
ringless yet feeling like gold.
"Today I became King" is the first line of the poem Holding Court that has the capability to grab your attention and make you want to read deeper into the poem. Saenz gives the reader only a glimpse of the pride that is going on through his mind when this first line is read. Holding Court, is the epitome of having pride when you achieve something that you have always wanted to achieve.
Even though his shirt was soaking wet and his knees were aching, Saenz felt unstoppable right at that moment when "the ball flew off [his] hands". He had everything with nothing. he had a crown on his head without the weight of the gold, he had rings on his fingers without the tightness making his fingers go numb. Digging deeper and deeper into the poem, it can mean that doing something amazing and feeling proud about it is a feeling that nobody can take away from you no matter what. With pride, you can feel like the king of the world.
Using an excited tone with pride weaved throughout, the free-verse rhyming scheme provides fluidity all through the poem to prove how he has everything that he's ever wanted without having anything at all. How his soaking t-shirt and his aching knee symbolize "a robe soaked in champagne" and "a sign of a battle endured" prove how the simple things in life can become so important and so meaningful to you when to someone else, it could not be as important.
How powerfully Saenz portrays pride gives the reader the hope and the willingness to do something amazing and to feel accomplished. The reader can believe that anything is possible, but only with hard work and sacrifice, pain and dedication.
Even though his shirt was soaking wet and his knees were aching, Saenz felt unstoppable right at that moment when "the ball flew off [his] hands". He had everything with nothing. he had a crown on his head without the weight of the gold, he had rings on his fingers without the tightness making his fingers go numb. Digging deeper and deeper into the poem, it can mean that doing something amazing and feeling proud about it is a feeling that nobody can take away from you no matter what. With pride, you can feel like the king of the world.
Using an excited tone with pride weaved throughout, the free-verse rhyming scheme provides fluidity all through the poem to prove how he has everything that he's ever wanted without having anything at all. How his soaking t-shirt and his aching knee symbolize "a robe soaked in champagne" and "a sign of a battle endured" prove how the simple things in life can become so important and so meaningful to you when to someone else, it could not be as important.
How powerfully Saenz portrays pride gives the reader the hope and the willingness to do something amazing and to feel accomplished. The reader can believe that anything is possible, but only with hard work and sacrifice, pain and dedication.