The Baltimore Raven: A Championship Poem Paperback – October 6, 2023

A SAMPLING OF THE 18 VERSESIOnce upon a midnight dreary, while IPondered weak and weary,Over the departure of the ColtsFrom Baltimore,While I nodded, nearly napping,Suddenly there came a tapping,As of someone gently rapping,Rapping at my clubroom door.“Some football fool,” I muttered,“Tapping at my clubroom door—Only this and nothing more.”IXMuch I marveled this majestic fowl toHear discourse so plainly,Though its answer little meaningLittle relevancy bore;For we cannot help agreeing that noLiving human beingEver yet was blessed with seeing birdAbove his clubroom door—Bird or beast upon Johnny's sculptedBust above his clubroom door, saying“The Ravens win in Baltimore.”XIIIThus I sat engaged in guessing, butNo syllable expressingTo the Raven whose fiery eyes nowBurned into my bosom's core;This and more I sat divining, with myHeart a-thump and piningFor Chuck's smooth voice so rich andDeep, so proud and sure:“Unitas drops back, he looks deep,There's Lenny Moore!”XV“Prophet!” said I, “thing of wonder!Prophet still, if bird or phantom!Whether tempter sent, or whetherTempest tossed thee here ashore,Insistent and sure undaunted,In this town by Irsay haunted,Tell me truly, I implore, is footballBack on the Chesapeake shore?”Quoth the Raven,“The Ravens win in Baltimore.”XVI“Prophet!” said I, “bird of fortune—Prophet still of mirth and more!By that heaven that bends above us—By that God we both adore—Tell this fan with expectation growing,If, what you speak you're knowing,Our Sundays loud again with theChampionship roar,Alive with great defense and the lastSecond score.”Then the bird said,“The Ravens win in Baltimore.”XVII“Be those words the sign of blessing,Bird of greatness, the futureConfessing—linebackers as tough asPellington and Curtis, receivers asShrewd as Berry and Orr!I take a black plume as a token of thatTruth thy soul hath spoken!Leave my happiness unbroken!Adorn the bust above my door!Lay thy beak across my heart—let'sHear it again:‘Touchdown Baltimore!’” Read more