Tag: Poem

#WhatItTakes Olympic Manifesto – The Last Verse

So, the Olympic Games have come to a close. The athletes will be flying back, and their stories of struggle and failure or triumph will make the waves for weeks, if not years to come. The last verse of the #WhatItTakes Olympic Manifesto dropped today. Shane Koyczan is back, and it is fitting. Here it is, then.

There is a war you wage on yourself  every time you attempt to do better

The letter of resignation you wrote is a no thank you note you keep using for target practice

THIS is what it takes.

These are the brakes you cut to keep yourself from slowing down, 

To keep yourself from stopping,

Topping your last achievement will never ever take less effort than your maximum.

What takes you from start to finish is more than the muscle around your bones.

May exhaustion turn your arms into the stones you must lift if ever you claim victory

May gravity always be the foe that prevents you from taking flight

May there forever be more fight in the other guy

May you be blessed with the nightmare of constantly asking yourself why you should keep going?

Knowing the boundaries of your reach will teach you to extend past them.

Do not CONDEMN failure

You will come to know it

You will be crestfallen

You will be beat down

You will at times drown in the drought of your determination

You will stumble

You will make mistakes

You will learn there was a level beyond the hard way.

THIS is your education

THIS is what it takes!

-Shane Koyczan

Tomorrow will feature the entire Manifesto. Stay tuned!

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Canadian Poet, Sabrina Benaim – Look Out World!

So, as promised, here we are with the 3rd verse of the Olympic Manifesto that dropped yesterday, August 18th. This one was a surprise and a pleasant one at that, because this was not written and performed by Shane Koyczan (like I expected), no, true to Canadian form, Sport Chek injected diversity in the form of a very talented and up and coming poet, Sabrina Benaim. I am in awe of how our Canadian-ism has faith in its people and subscribes to the philosophy of everyone deserving a chance to take a stab at greatness. Here, Sabrina Benaim wonderfully delivers.

Greatness walks up to you,
She asks you two questions :
Can you see yourself in me & are you ready? 

To push beyond your limits
while shutting out the noise
to wear well each earned bead of sweat
because you’ve worked just as hard
with a different set of rules
to triumph
before the clock ever starts.
Ask them why they call you anything other than athlete.
You see expectations and break them
wearing muscles and tears,
each one a testament to your strength.
To erase the idea of what you are supposed to be is not what you are here for,
you came to show the world what you are capable of.
There is no box to check for greatness,
They’ll know it when they see it.

-Sabrina Benaim

The last two lines are a stunner. Let them linger.

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