{"id":5240,"date":"2016-04-20T16:43:51","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T16:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/?p=5240"},"modified":"2016-04-20T16:43:51","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T16:43:51","slug":"game-ball-a-poem-by-miriam-c-jacobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/game-ball-a-poem-by-miriam-c-jacobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Ball. A Poem by Miriam C. Jacobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above Hukte Ajaw\u2019s court where the air stinks
\nof rotting flesh and rubber, darkest night of the year,
\nthe sky is potent with cold.
\nOur astronomers fix the time of sacrifice,
\ntime for the judge\u2019s sharp whistles, the slam
\nas the ball, stuffed with the brains of the dead,
\nricochets against sloping stone.
\nOnce through the ring is all there is.
\nYou\u2019ve practiced your whole life for this loser\u2019s joke \u2013
\ncostumed, absurdly masked, belt packed
\nwith home-spun rags. Childless, you ape pregnancy,
\nwaddling wide-legged, teasing your tongue
\nin the scent of sausages and fried maize, challenging
\nto laughter the chit-chat of families with no son or daughter
\nin the center, prattle of people with nothing,
\nin this moment, to lose. The regent is planted
\non his dais, legs firm and upright like two pillars.
\nHis flags wilt on the arms behind him
\nin the only world that matters, the only world
\nyou know. And when his minions have cut
\nyour heart from your body, the steam of it rising
\nin the mythic air as they pass it from mouth to mouth,
\nwhen your skull has rolled down the chiseled steps,
\nthe crowd cheered and scuttled to their dim hovels, turned on television,
\nthe forest stretches its vines to cover those who loved you,
\nwho carved your name on a rock.<\/strong>
\n 
\n 
\n\"Jacobs<\/a>
\n 
\n 
\nMIRIAM C. JACOBS is a alumnus of the University of Chicago and teaches college writing, literature and humanities. Jacobs is the editor of Eyedrum Periodically<\/a>, the art\/literature journal of Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, Atlanta. Her poetry has appeared in Jewish Literary Journal, The East Coast Literary Review, Record Magazine, The Camel Saloon, Bluestem: the Art and Literary Journal of Eastern Illinois University, The King\u2019s English, and Oklahoma Today,<\/em> among other publications. Her chapbook of poetry, The Naked Prince,<\/em> was published by Fort!\/Da? Books in September 2013.<\/strong>
\n 
\nwww.facebook.com\/PoetryLifeTimes<\/a>
\nwww.facebook.com\/Artvilla.com<\/a>
\n robin@artvilla.com<\/a>
\neditor@artvilla.com<\/a><\/strong>
\n 
\n goodreads.com\/author\/show\/Robin Ouzman Hislop<\/a><\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.aquillrelle.com\/authorrobin.htm<\/a><\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.amazon.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop<\/a>
\nwww.lulu.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop <\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.amazon.com\/author\/robinouzmanhislop<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.innerchildpress.com\/robin-ouzman-hislop.All the Babble of the Souk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Above Hukte Ajaw\u2019s court where the air stinks of rotting flesh and rubber, darkest night of the year, the sky is potent with cold. Our astronomers fix the time of sacrifice, time for the judge\u2019s sharp whistles, the slam as the ball, stuffed with the brains of the dead, ricochets against sloping stone. Once through … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[592,43],"tags":[18,136,3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5240"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5243,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240\/revisions\/5243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}