It’s a little known fact that the poet Jim Cummins, our Midwest correspondent, is an ace at ice hockey. Born in the Wolverine State, Cummins played right wing for the Michigan State University Spartans and was drafted in the fourth round (sixty-seventh over all) by the New York Rangers in 1989. His greatest success came in a Chicago Black Hawks uniform. The 6’2 wing established a tough-guy reputation, never backing down from a fight. Though he played for seven NHL teams, he successfully kept his sestina writing a secret from his teammates. When a reserve goalie for the Colorado Avalanche discovered Jim’s book The Whole Truth, it sparked an unexpected interest in verse and prose forms culminating in the selection of Robert Bly’s four-part prose poem "The Hockey Poem" as the Avalanche’s official poem read annually at year-end ceremonies.
Here’s Jim on the ice at his feisty best:
— DL