Another Victory for Subtlety- May '07

Another Victory for Subtlety


I’ll never forget this one day
I had to make a choice
Which didn’t matter at all
Like a lot of them
I was sitting in my cell
When I heard my neighbor’s voice
Telling me something
About a tennis match
That I had to catch

I was scrolling through the channels
Whizzing by
The advertising panels
I had just a few clicks to go
When I happened to see
Marlon Brando
In a role from 1954
A movie I had seen
Many times before
With a magnetism
You cannot ignore
So now I had to choose
And I felt like either way
I was going to lose
It was a classic contrast
Between present and past
Between subtlety
And sheer force

There were similarities as well
The intensity in both players’ eyes
Is hard to miss
You get the feeling
That they are wise
Beyond their years
The very hardness
Of their stares
Can’t hide the fact
That they are both
Capable of tears

I found myself flipping
Between the two
After all
Every time you watch Brando
You see something new
That’s what subtlety
Is all about
I am also
A pretty devout
Tennis fan
And gazing
At the statuesque beauty
Of Sharapova
Is so amazing
It makes me glad I’m a man

As the Brando movie ended
I was quite certain
Ms. Sharapova wouldn’t be offended
By my divided attention
And as events unfolded
I couldn’t help but think
That the young star
Could learn a lesson
From the old one
Because in the end
Sharapova lost
And Brando won

You know things are
The way they should be
When unrestrained force loses
And subtlety wins again