Thirty years in the making –
a seemingly simple quest at last complete,
a dream so anticlimactically attained –
overshadowed by everyone else’s reality
with no highlight reel to speak of…

Two-on-one gone horribly wrong
now a one-on-one battle
for the puck in the corner –
I slipped away unnoticed
towards the net

I looked up to find a goaltender
just in case…
the puck made its way towards me
cradled, settled, shot
past shuffling feet

I never saw it go in
but I heard it hit
the back of the goal
and the play stopped –
finally I got one.

A subdued celebration,
an almost inconspicuous fist-pump
from a soul smiling brightly
and Randy Newman singing in my head.
It was nothing but everything to me.