Elegy for Gump Worsley

The Weakerthans
He looked more like our fathers
Not a goalie, player, athlete period
Smoke, half-ash,
stuck in that permanent smirk.
Tugging jersey around the beer gut
I'm strictly a whiskey man
was one of the sticks he taped up
and gave to a nation of pudgy boys
Favorites from Plympton's list of
objects thrown by Rangers fans:
Soup cans, persimmon, eggs
a folding chair and a dead rabbit
The nervous breakdown of 68 and 69
after Pan Crap flights from LA
the expansion
a shrink told me to change occupations
I had to forget it
He swore he was never afraid of the puck
We believe him
If anyone asks,
the inscription should read
'My face was my mask.'