The Playoffs

There’s a battle raging tonight—  

Stars vs City Lights.  

City has the flashy moves,  

bobbing and weaving on the harbour water.  

Stars are circling slowly—the long game.  

If the power goes out, my money’s on Stars.  

In the park by the water, the vagrants  

are watching but have other ideas,  

preferring to light up their brains with  

alcohol, glue, pharmaceuticals.  

Reffing this evening is the dashboard Jesus,  

two fingers raised skyward  

to remind us which direction heaven is  

in case there’s gunplay.

William Ross is a Canadian writer and visual artist living in Toronto. His poems have appeared in Rattle, The New Quarterly, Bindweed Anthology, Humana Obscura, New Note Poetry, Cathexis Northwest Press, Passionfruit Review, Topical Poetry, Heavy Feather Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, *82 Review, and Alluvium.