The spirituality of hockey coach

Based on St John of the Cross

Bob Commin


The way forward is the way back
       and the way back
       is the way left
      and the way right
which is the same as saying
the way up
      is the way down
the way along the edges
      is the way to the centre
you must go by a way
where there are no set paths
you must go alone
though others are always with you
and the obstacles that you encounter
are not obstacles,
but the way through your centre.
the way of possession
is the way of dispossession
to receive, you must give
to possess your goal
you must deny your goal
and surrender your will
to the will of a greater spirit
then, and only then
will the goal that you desire
become the goal not of the one
but the many
and what you set out to possess
will ultimately have you in possession.

From: McGregor Poetry Anthology 2013

Published by African Sun Press in association with the McGregor Poetry Festival
ISBN number 978-0-620-62302-5

The Poet:

Bob Commin is a poet and storyteller. He grew up in Woodstock, Cape Town and has taught in schools in Scotland and England. Latterly he runs workshops on creativity, storytelling and poetry. His most recent publication is Under the Ilex Tree. Leon de Kock is a poet, translator, essayist, writer of fiction, literary translator and professional literary practitioner. He has published three volumes of poetry: Bloodsong (1997); gone to the edges (2006); and Bodyhood (2010). He was awarded the Pringle Prize for Poetry and the FNB Vita/English Academy Prize for Poetry Translation. His translation of Marlene van Niekerk’s major Afrikaans novel Triomf won the South African Translators Institute’s Award for Outstanding Translation in 2000. He is Professor of English at the University of Stellenbosch, having formerly served as an English professor at both the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was Head of the School of Literature and Language Studies, and the University of South Africa.

Previously published:

Bob Commin: Wandering minstrel from the June 2013 edition of Good Hope