What role does sports play in our lives?

 

Slam, Dunk, and Hook by Yusef Kumunyakaa

 

Fast breaks. Lay ups. With Mercury's 

Insignia on our sneakers, 

We outmaneuvered to footwork 

Of bad angels. Nothing but a hot 

Swish of strings like silk 

Ten feet out. In the roundhouse 

Labyrinth our bodies 

Created, we could almost 

Last forever, poised in midair 

Like storybook sea monsters. 

A high note hung there 

A long second. Off 

The rim. We'd corkscrew 

Up & dunk balls that exploded 

The skullcap of hope & good 

Intention. Lanky, all hands 

& feet...sprung rhythm. 

We were metaphysical when girls 

Cheered on the sidelines. 

Tangled up in a falling, 

Muscles were a bright motor 

Double-flashing to the metal hoop 

Nailed to our oak.

When Sonny Boy's mama died 

He played nonstop all day, so hard 

Our backboard splintered. 

Glistening with sweat, 

We rolled the ball off 

Our fingertips. Trouble 

Was there slapping a blackjack 

Against an open palm. 

Dribble, drive to the inside, 

& glide like a sparrow hawk. 

Lay ups. Fast breaks. 

We had moves we didn't know 

We had. Our bodies spun 

On swivels of bone & faith, 

Through a lyric slipknot 

Of joy, & we knew we were 

Beautiful & dangerous.