John Leander, a poet well known to other fictional authors in the Birmingham, AL area, today was presented with the Best Poem Ever Written About Football by John Leander Award. The ceremony took place just a few yards away from the entrance to the esteemed Alys Stephens Center. Unfortunately, there was a virtual press black out due to the event not actually occurring. Even so, one University of Alabama at Birmingham student was observed pausing for a moment, adjusting her backpack, and glancing in the direction where the ceremony would have taken place. The Birmingham Free Press is proud to print the award-winning poem below, about which Leander muttered, "If you say it's about football, then why not, sure, it's about football. Is that a grilled cheese sandwich?"
Fall Opens in Birmingham, Alabama
(variation on a theme by James Wright)
The drums of marching bands sound once again, away over the foothills, unseen and close as heartbeats.
Shamans whirl in leaves that leap from tree limbs. Electrons charge through campuses under roiling thunderclouds.
Seniors chant and boom the call! The bright blast of flashing horns summon young and old.
The crash of suns! Folk come running from their cabins and their mansions, too.
A nation unites under the common colors of fantastic banners.
Soon, the air tells you, brothers will cry the yell of war.
