Zidane and the Inevitable Question

What does it mean that
Perhaps the world’s second most
famous Muslim, (the one not
famous for inciting bloodshed)
on the brink of leading his team
to victory in the most
impassioned sporting event in the world
(an improbable World Cup), instead
Head butts his way to a red card
And his team’s demise?

Nothing.

What lesson can we derive from watching
When the most talent and respected at what he does,
At the moment of Christening
Of his eternal greatness
Lashes out violently and is removed
From his stage, tearing the heart
From his team when they needed
Him most?

None.

What do we say to
the children who adored Zizou,
who fawned over his artistry
and grace with ball?

Do we point to his rough background?
The taunts, the threats, the insults
Of immigrant ghettoes in
Marseilles. To being Algerian.
To being Muslim.

Do we instead go with passion,
the crazed insatiability
that helps great people to conquer what
ordinary people cannot? The world’s
greatest footballer’s inferno could
not be contained?

Maybe the weight of his nation
Of his religion, of his team,
Of a world hoping for happy
Endings was too much
Even for his immense talents
to bear.

What will it mean to his legacy?
With millions watching
Waiting to canonize him
With Maradona and Pele. If
the last public sight of him is
His bowed head walking
Off the pitch through a
dark tunnel
and alone with
his thoughts.

Past his teammates,
Past the sidelines, past the dumbstruck
Fans not knowing whether to
Cheer or boo, to be angry
Or sympathize,
Coming to grips with all he’s done
In decades of being the most
Gorgeous in the beautiful game,
With the ugliness of what just happened.

Maybe it was his ability, like
All the greats, to see the end before
Everyone else. The perfectly scripted
Hollywood ending where the
Retired great comes back for
Once last hurrah to save his
Country. To bring together
The rag-tag squad of misfits.
The ending that was being
subverted by
Rough tactics and
a strategy from a beaten
side to take their
chances with probability
instead of possibility.

What does the world hope for when
The script of racial and religious
Divisiveness does not end happily
Without rainbows and
hand holding. With
no easy answers,
and occasionally,
rage.

Nothing.

Commentary and analysis
Will follow. The cycle of
Condemnation and mind
Numbing regurgitation of
The modern media bent on
Shaping simple history into
the one of the conventional
narratives of
the times.

They will all ask. We will wonder.
What did he say?
What could have the Italian
clown have murmured,
what profane reference would
have been enough to set off the
world’s best player in football’s
most important game.

They will beg. They will
Rewind tape, read lips
Interpret body language.
Hoping for an excuse
To make their narrative
Make sense. End with
a conclusion instead of
a question mark.

What should you
say to them?

Nothing. Nothing easy.
Nothing scripted.

Let the search continue.