On Hearing the Death of Shane Warne (1969 – 2022)
On Hearing the Death of Shane Warne (1969 – 2022)
Shane Warne began bowling
before he was born
Tiny fingers probing
the absence of a ball
A supple wrist flexing
in amniotic fluid
When years later, he took
his first test wicket
Divine intervention
Must have been at play
Moving the ball from leg to off
In an unfathomable way
The batsman flummoxed
And dumbfounded
By this mate-culture creation
Turned spinning sensation
An anti-hero in whites
Living life to the max
Carousing into the night
Belly swelling from fast-food fats
He became the world’s best
spinner despite himself
His right hand drawing him back
from the brink of self-destruction.
