[Chat] Keep it Low

[Emil Volcheck]

Poem: "Keep It Low," by Betty Szold Krainis from A Baseball Bat and a
Book of Poems (Ti-Jean Press).
        
Keep It Low

Betty Krainis is my name.
Table tennis is my game.

And if this game you want to win
What you need most is -- discipline,
That plus top and bottom spin.

The fact is -- 
It takes practice.

Yet though I practice all the time,
My bottom spin's not worth a dime.

What saves me is I'm ever ready.
Hence the nickname Steady Betty.

No matter what your age or sex is
The game requires swift reflexes.

The surest way to waste your foe
Is CONCENTRATE -- and keep it low.

Watch the ball. Don't get tense,
Forgo your slam, use strong defense.

Change your pace, wear lucky clothes,
Move about, stay on your toes.

Forget the score -- but don't forget
To get the ball across the net.

And if your forehand's not so fine,
Serve to the middle or down the line.

The way to banish nerve attacks?
Inhale deeply, then relax.

Some folks choose to die in Venice.
My living will is table tennis.

(from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac for Monday, 28 April 2003.)