You don’t know how it feels
to be at the very top
until you’ve been
at the very bottom.
We were there;
we know it well.
We were one body, one heart, one soul;
we held our breath together.
We mourned together,
hurt together,
healed together—
and then
we celebrated together.
And together we were that night,
fifty-five thousand, I’m told,
cheering and jumping over fires
and screaming until
we lost our voices.
But we couldn’t appreciate
that April night
without the one before;
you don’t truly know the joy
of national champions
until you also know the heartbreak
of national runners-up.
We know.
written May 13, 2018
Moriah Sharpe 