A Limerick, in Honor of the Head Racing Season

Your editor was shanghaied on the dock this morning: having meant to row her single, she ended up instead as the three seat in a quad, and it was a hellaciously invigorating row. Seriously Baxter: I did have a good time. But who knew we were supposed to win the warmup? And who knew we were doing a head piece against the men's eight? On the other hand, I didn't tell them that one of the features of middle age lately seems to be that when I race really hard I sometimes yerp. So we were even.

Anyway, a moment of unexpected fun like this often puts me in mind of one of my all-time great rows, with one of the all-time great crews: the Head of the Charles in 2004, as a member of the famous Linda Gillam Four. Ann Patry and Barbara "Fabs" Fabiani filled out the boat that was thrown together more or less at the last minute, and then went out and rowed a time that qualified an entry for the club in 2005. Part of why we did so well, other than amazing team spirit, was a teenaged coxswain from Choate that Linda recruited. Which has caused me to pen my own entry for the poetry slam. I changed the name to protect the innocent and also because I needed it for the rhyme. But it does capture the spirit of the race, as the young fellow guided his boat of Mrs. Robinsons down the course, ordering other crews out of the way, and zippering oars under bridges.

There was a wee coxswain named Jonas
Whose race winning ways were a bonus.
We knew he would win
Not because he was thin
But because of his massive cojones.