Why I Love Wayne Gretzky—an Erotic Fantasy

Billeh NickersonBecause he knows what to do with pucks,slapshots, wristshots, all that intricate stickwork as he slips through defencemen, shoots between the legs & scores.Because he likes to pretend I’m the Zamboni & he the filthy ice.Because even if he’s tired he’ll perk up whenever I sing O Canada.Because sometimes my dyslexia makes me see a giant sixty-nine on his back.Because he’s always ready for overtime—because he never shoots then snores.Because he understands the importance of a good organ player.Because he calls me his stick boy.Because he likes to be tied upwith the laces from his skates.

Because behind every great man

it feels good.

From Hammer & Tongs, a poetry anthology edited by Brad Cran and published by Smoking Lung Press in 1999 and reprinted in Geist No. 36.