Huddle

The whistle blows and the bodies
Shift, settle, relax.
For a moment there is
stillness,
reflection,
assessment.
They untangle the chaos so there may be
measurement.
Perhaps celebration.
But most of the time the celebration must wait,
there is more work to be done first.
So they return to their side of the line,
The new line,
and join the huddle.
There they gather,
to hear the play-call,
a code that will arrange their bodies,
determine the set of rehearsed movements.
In the huddle there is potential,
ambiguous only for a last moment,
before the truth will come out.