Gimme Some Skin                   [Part 3 of my Sports Trilogy]

An original poem by Chrome Dome Mike Kimbro

Consider reading along to my Spoken Verse Performance.

Photos are of the DePauw University Volleyball Team

VERSE 1

Overuse anything, it will wear thin.

Like how some say "I Love You", hourly.

It happens the most with "Gimme Some Skin!"

Folks like me, regard the change sourly.

VERSE 2

In hoops, it occurs on the free throw line.

Where coaches use it to replace thinking.

Players who abstain probably ride the pine.

Just the thought of it drives me to drinking.

CHORUS

Why hand slap?

Why hand slap?

Just proceed to a spot,

Then clap.

If that fix happens to shorten,

The time they spend out there, covortin'.

That can only be a good thing.

So let's work to make hand slapping arbitrary.

VERSE 3

Is this a sign of the times that we're livin'?

If it is, then mankind's future is stark.

The first game that 100 slaps where given,

Is the moment that basketball jumped the shark,

VERSE 4

Now, stopping hand slaps is not intended.

Just lessen their habitual usage.

Should one pair of players have hands extended,

Their team will not be given a goose egg.

VERSE 5

Then the occasional hand slap will be,

Seen as an display of celebration.

Right now, in volleyball, it's a travesty.

Clearly reduced to an obligation.

VERSE 6

Deep thinking in sports can be a menace.

But this fix has OCD redundance.

Exactly, how is it dealt with in tennis?

Where outstretched hands are not in abundance?

VERSE 7

To those who doubt this change would succeed.

They ask: "What's next, sports without high fiving?"

I remind them of the distancing need.

It's from that battle I am deriving.

BRIDGE

Inaction allowed sports to stagnate.

Then COVID forced us all to innovate.

This pandemic might be worth the sadness,

If it rectifies the hand slapping madness.

CHORUS #3

Why hand slap?

Why hand slap?

Just proceed to a spot,

Then clap.

That which is unnecessary.

Also makes the game unsanitary.

And if the fix happens to shorten,

The time they spend out there, covortin'.

That can only be a good thing.

So let's work to make hand slapping arbitrary.

VERSE 8

Only then, when someone requests, with zeal:

"Yo, Chrome Dome Mike! Gimme some skin!"

Being quite sure that their desire is real,

I'll reach out. Then smile and say: "Certainly, friend."

The End

Copyright © Michael Kimbro 2020.  All rights reserved.