At the beautiful gate

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up.
                                                                    —Acts 3:7

How many times have you seen this
on the football field? The hulking tackle,
after the play, reaching down

to the halfback and pulling him up
with a sure, strong grip. Every once
in a while, a player from the other team

will do this for his flattened opponent.
A re-enactment of miracle, of resurrection.
Again and again. Not carted off the turf

this time, but rising with a little help
to stand once more on his own two feet.
What else could you want, really?

Something almost worth the shock
of that hard embrace, of overthrow,
that crash and crush into the earth.