American Football Poem

Walter Payton

How come Walter Payton
or “Sweetness” as we all knew him,
could not get a liver,
when he needed one.
He needed to keep on living

But drunk, old, Mickey Mantle
Jumped straight to the top of the donors list
And his liver was saturated in liquor
For the past couple of decades.
Nights of liquor stupor

At first, because he lost so much weight
People said it was “aids”
But he told the truth and said
“his liver was killing him.”

But Walter Payton, just kept quiet
Did good, won the respect of everyone
Played as hard as anyone could
And was loved by those near and far

But he is dead now
Maybe it was the liver that gave out
Maybe he just gave up
Maybe he knew it was his time to die
Before he got old

And did it his way
His style
Nothing special
Just a simple death
And fitting ending to a simple life
Where a transplanted liver
slightly smaller than
A football
Would have made all the difference
For the rest of us…
Oscar Mireles