Poetry

			Reflection #1

			My words, may you last
			when my body has gone;
			recover my name
			if forgotten to time;
			though statues may rise
			and in due time, fall,
			your form shall remain,
			in dust, as in rhyme.
			Perhaps they are heard,
			these echoes we leave,
			ripples on water
			in ethereal calm.
			Long may I lay
			to quietly mind
			the writhing of life
			and intention long lost.
			

			Reflection #2

			She sings to me, where no one hears,
			a serenade discrete,
			the dancing girl my heart holds dear,
			though never do I see.
			Her leavings strewn about and round
			my life, long in her wake,
			the vestiges in light abound
			as shadows in refrain.
			I await the sign each passing day,
			her loathing has all gone,
			to memory, may her troubles fade
			as night ere coming dawn.

			

			Reflection #3

			The two of us, a tired pair,
			misfortune and misdeeds to bear,
			resigned to fight, the cause forgot,
			no compromise or compact sought.
			A choice you give to save but one
			between us two, or else save none,
			might conscience in this chaos find
			an ending of a lighter kind.
			Should anger for compassion speak
			and choose the punishment you seek,
			may brighter days in darkness shine
			to recompense my poor design.
			If ever should we meet again
			before we reach that bitter end,
			consider once this weary mind
			and twice the trials of its time.
			

			Places Too Dark to be Seen
			
			Too smart to be brave
			or polite to behave
			in natural or devious ways.
			Your laces too tight,
			the black and the white
			are growing in distance each day.
			Befriending a clock,
			your fantasies knock
			on a door still want for a key,
			To get in, or get out
			by a derelict route,
			in places too dark to be seen.
			

			Wales
			
			Endless miles of greening country
			mirror heavens bathed starlit
			ebbing time from lives that putter
			round like rain, where nobody listens;
			your voice lights the lonely highway.
			

			Strings
			
			When from abysmal dark did rise,
			ere light, the strings, unwoven sung
			of melodies from silence wrung
			to tell where all existence lies.
			Their single voice ran octaves round,
			beseeching for and giving light,
			in spectral waves, a fateful tide:
			behold, the solemn, sentient sound.
			

			Venus and Mars
			
			Venus, Mars, of near and far,
			born from one amongst the stars,
			lending notes to make diverse
			serenades in solace cursed.
			

Sketches

Melodies

Miscellaneous

Soccer Tactics

Sport seems a little trivial, given my usual subject matter, but is undeniably relatable and perhaps more complex than I previously imagined. The game in question is soccer, the only one about which I can write with any credibility. Having consumed it for nearly three decades, I am now driven to reflect, for my own amusement and for comparison, whether that time has yielded any ideas of interest. I suspect it has not, but hope it has.

Being nearly identical to several other games, like hockey, lacrosse or water polo, differing mainly in how the contested object is handled, the sport is primarily about the utilization of space. Containing two teams and a ball on a rectangular field, the ball must move through space and enter a “goal,” stationed at either end of the field and defended by each team. It is moved by being struck with the foot, either gently and under control of a single player, called “dribbling,” or more firmly and between players, called “passing.” When in close proximity to the goal, the ball may be struck with maximum force, called “shooting.” These three actions account for most movement.

Dribbling is the less efficient method of navigation, in both speed and technique, but can offer a more direct approach if a player is given sufficient space. Strategies cannot solely rely on dribbling, as opponents will collapse and suffocate the action if not forced to account for other players to whom the dribbler may pass. Given the natural unease of controlling an object with our less coordinated feet, dribbling requires extensive practice and dexterity, and is a relative vanity given how much simpler the movement can be accomplished by a series of passes.

The movement of the ball through passing is how the game is ideally played. Envisioning a line connecting every player to their potential teammates, the network of possible connections is vast. Typically struck faster than any player can run, passing is quicker, safer and easier than dribbling, and offers a more cerebral approach to the raw athleticism and skill of the ball-handlers. If targets of passing are supported properly and peripheral movement is active and purposeful, skilled teams can possess the ball for extended periods, or sufficiently long to find an opening to more directly exploit.

In the end, I find the most successful strategy to be the navigation of space through passing combinations of various lengths, from smaller, local movements when possible, to longer ones when opponents start to collapse. As angles are more quickly created in close proximity, and therefore possession kept more easily, local clusters, intermixed appropriately with longer passes to open new spaces, are the most efficient way to traverse the field. Given their quick and shifty geometry, local clusters should be maintained whenever possible, attaching and releasing participants as the ball moves, and only giving way to longer passes when an area has become stifled and its spaces occupied. This stretching and contracting of space, the ball like a celestial object attracting and releasing bodies as it approaches and moves away, should allow possession to be kept among and between dense configurations of opponents.

Rather than visualizing a network of potential passes, a more helpful aid might be circles, emanating outward from the ball at their center. Possible targets rotate around the ball, with those closer orbiting more quickly, and therefore constructively, while far-flung players must cover more ground to present an opening, making their position less secure while requiring greater effort and accuracy to target. This is why short passing combinations should be sought and maintained whenever space is available: they are simpler to complete, require less effort to adjust and still outpace more athletic opponents. Naturally, shorter distances will eventually draw in more opponents, leading to potential congestion that will require new space to move into, and longer passes to reach that space.

Modern teams seem to fixate on rigid shapes, imagining unrealistic passing movements that circulate through the body of a structure, and reach as far as that structure may extend. Theoretically, and perhaps in simulated games, this is a sound approach. However, defenses are smarter and passing harder than simulations convey, and tighter, more fluid shapes ease the difficulty of both maintaining open lanes and actually playing the ball. Teams may still utilize spacing, and indeed it is useful to assign certain players to certain areas, but possession is far more easily maintained through close, freeform arrangements, rotating around the ball in support of the handler. Obviously spaces will eventually open up, at which point more familiar movements may return and specific player archetypes have a chance to operate, such as a winger, striker or attacking midfielder. You still need fast players, physical players and smart players, but only when an opportunity presents itself; until that happens, possession must be maintained.