The ball kissed off the glass,
Catching rim, sliding past
The nylon net that swooshed and swung
But—the basketball—it hung
In the air with our breath,
Sat between life and death.
The Milwaukee Bucks slunk away
To point the scope to cops today.
kenosha
8.26.20 – Uncomfortably Numb
Below the waist
Is wasted nerve
Severed from shots
To the back
Blake lives
But others don’t
8.25.20 – Basketball Distractions
In Wisconsin—
Of all places—
The smoldering embers
Of George Floyd’s murder
Were slowly cooling.
But with one
Flash of gasoline—
Shots to the back—
Kenosha erupts in flames.
The attraction of basketball,
In a far-off magical place,
Distracts and detracts from
What matters most of all.
We must suspend our attraction
Till this ends
And Black Americans
Can sleep.
This Is Just to Say 