Elegy for Gump Worsley

He looked more like our fathers

Not a goalie, player, athlete period

Smoke, half-ash, stuck in that permanent smirk

Tugging jersey around the beer gut

"I'm strictly a whiskey man"

Was one of the sticks he taped up

And gave to a nation of pudgy boys in beverage rooms

Favorites from Plympton's list

Of objects thrown by Rangers fans

Soup cans, persimmon, eggs, a folding chair and a dead rabbit

The nervous breakdown of '68 and '69

After pant-crap flights from LA, the expansion

A shrink told me to change occupations, I had to forget it

He swore he was never afraid of the puck, we believe him

If anyone asks, the inscription should read

"My face was my mask."