Dragonslayer

ONE-ON-ONE

He played one-on-one with God
Up, then back, shifting right and left
Smiling wide (pearl on mahogany),
Talking trash (catch me if you can)
Sinking crazy shots from downtown
Life ain’t nothing, nothing but net
All net, no sweat. That wasn’t enough.

Rules were for the not-so-smart
He lived life by his own code
Oozing charm (to know me is to love me)
Talking smack (my way or the highway)
Making his mark—indelible, strong
Life is what you make it. He made it big.
Bigger than life. He thought that was enough.

Then the cancer slithered on-court
Playing by no rules, cheeky and sly
Blocking shots with a toxin-tipped tongue
Flooding the boards with malignant slime
Mocking skilled play with reptilian force
Hogging the ball to run out the clock
Beat down. Game over, no score. Not enough.

Late in the last quarter, he focused his skills
Dazzling moves in a come-back end-game,
Rifts reconciled (no more keeping score)
Defenses down (we’re on the same team)
At the buzzer, no heroics, no fancy shots
With smile slight and wry, he saw his way transcended
By Life full of Love that was finally enough.
 

Dragonslayer by Judith Harper is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License