At The Starting Line

Here we sit, poised and alert,
Ready for the start to happen,
All is calm, it's quiet in the boat,
Not a single set of lips is flappin'.
We're here to be competitive, to go for the win,
not just to have some fun,
We're gonna do it, gonna stay in sync,
and give every team a good run!
The start is on, blades are buried,
We're pulling away from the line,
A powerful engine, 16 cylinders,
Everyone's right in time!
We're drivin' them down, pullin' them hard,
Giving it all we've got,
The positive thoughts in everyone's mind,
"I think that we've got a shot!"
We've done this very race before,
many times while practicing,
But we all know that this one's different,
This one is the real thing!
The adrenalin's pumpin, drums are thunpin,
The callers are yelling loudly,
But we don't pay attention to any of that,
We just paddle and smile proudly!
We're headed for the finish line, paddling with the rhythm,
It comes as no surprise to us,
we've managed to stay right with 'em!
Now all is done, the flag has been caught,
We wait to hear our time,
We did our best, a wonderful job,
Everything turned out fine!
I know that this is just a poem,
perhaps a fantasy,
But if we visualize this in our mind,
That's the way it'll be!
We've got one more practice left to go,
More drills and practice starts,
So let's load the boat, lock it in,
and paddle with all our hearts!
Paddles up!

Kevin and the Joeldog, 6-02-03