Your feet are in the blocks
You stand on the rim
You’ve climbed to the platform
And come to the edge of the field
You hold the pole, the paddle, the disk, the bow

The lane is empty
The pool expectant
The air still
The open space, the waiting time
Unfolding for effort to fill

There’s the goal at the end of the court
The tape stretched to meet your chest
The familiar touch of your hand to the wall
The shout, the cheer, the score
The line, the flag, the lean, the landing

It’s the ending that starts the beginning
The finish that pulls you through
The close of the dream that opens the dreaming
The excited embrace of achievement
That powers the performance to earn it.