Friday Night Basketball at P.S. 217 by Robert Cooperman

In high school, it was the closest court,
always a shock at how small the school
had become: water fountains back-
breakingly low, halls so narrow,
a wonder normal sized kids like us
could avoid walking into walls.

Still, it was open Friday nights,
and those of us without dates
or parties to go to—which meant
most of my friends and me—could,
with frenzied games, temporarily
numb the hormones driving us nuts.

You called “Next,” chose two guys,
waited your turn, and if you kept winning,
you stayed on the court: make-it-take-it
to eleven, and you had to win by two buckets. 

One Friday, one friend dropped out,
then another, smirking, until it was just
Brian and me; then Brian gone too,
me trudging alone to the gym,
until finally, it was my turn

to smile over something other
than a bank shot clean as the shirt
my mother ironed for me,
that first Friday night.

About Robert Cooperman:

Robert Cooperman's latest collection is THE DEVIL WHO RAISED ME (Lithic Press).  Cooperman's love letter to the Grateful Dead, SAVED BY THE DEAD, was published earlier this year by Liquid Light Press.