Check out the new issue of 32 Poems magazine, featuring poems by Stephen Burt, Geoff Brock, David Lehman, and others (including my own little sarcastic poem, below). Click on the cool cat cover below to subscribe.

“Sportsmanship” by Ernest Hilbert

The character of a gentleman rests
On his never needing to get ahead.
High-school quarterbacks pummel losers
100-nil to push personal bests
Of players (not of teams) whose stats are read
By eager scouts and college recruiters.
What’s really proven on the fields of Eton?
Little that would win battles anymore.
And what of those who never had a chance
To do much but avoid being beaten?
Standards decline, true, but who were they for?
Not for those who are obliged to advance.
Even without gentry, there’s still conduct,
For what it’s worth, and there is always luck.