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Game 74

3/28/2015

CHI 111 NY 80

Dedicated to the New York Knicks on the eve
of their franchise record 60th loss of the season

When I was a kid
Me and my friends
Got picked on
By a lot of people

The jocks
The preppies
The gang-bangers
The skinheads

Simple enough labels
For the moment--
Now long gone

We were the weirdos--
Musicians and drama kids, mostly
Openly vulnerable
Frayed wires exposed

They’re just jealous
Mom said

I never understood
Until just recently
That she was right
Sort of

In the (Jesus)
Twenty-two years
Since High School
Has ended
I've seen a lot of these kids
Grow up

Bumping into them
At grocery stores
And gas stations
And parties

I had promised myself
I’d hate these guys forever
Back when feelings worked that way

But look at them
Now

Slow and sad
Lost and late
Almost forgivable

Almost

I guess the game
Goes on a little longer
Than just
A few possessions
Or games
Or seasons

0 Comments

Game 73

3/25/2015

1 Comment

CHI 116 TOR 103

Two carpets in my classroom
One red
One grey
Matching floral prints.

Given to me by
Another fucking friend
Moving to New York.

Two little rugs
From a house of drinkers
And smokers
And art-fag dance parties.

Covered in dog hair.

Dark enough to mask ash and wine
And pretty much anything--
Perfect.

The grey one
smells of piss and
Curves up at the corners--
Higher every day.

All year long
I have wrestled with its irregularity
Expressed as a formidable crease--
Geographical.

Placing chairs strategically
Pulling tight under desk
Or filing cabinet--
Denial--
Resistance.

But that crease--
Bastard little hump that it is--
would never go away,

Until today.

Soldiers at my side
I ride through the urine stench--
Commands barked
Over the screams of children.

Mongolian horsemen
Famous for our ruthlessness.

Fire behind us
Curved swords ahead
We tilt tables,
Roll rugs,
Salt earth,

And sweep remains.

1 Comment

Game 72

3/23/2015

0 Comments

CHI 98 CHA 86

Late in the third, sleep fell over the entire game
and, simultaneously, everyone began to dream.

Jimmy
Dreams he is back home
In rural Texas.
Muddy clayed-down palette
Paints land forever.
A smell--a rhythm.
A weird welcome
For a cast-out king.

Joakim
From the sideline
Dreams of sunshine.
A lion at rest--still panting--hot.
Conserving its strength
For the hunt.

Kemba
Is a waterbug
Zipping low above a murky green pond--
Between rows of predators.
Finding a current
Effortless--
Air, itself

Thibs is a boy.
Not himself
But familiar.
Long ago--
Pre War.
He dreams here sometimes.
He has friends here--5 guys--
Like in the old movies
He grew up watching.

Taj sees balls
Of light
Expanding
Transforming
Into objects.
Objects become art
And art becomes stories--
Alive.
He is in the stories
Changing fast
Like the stroke of the brush.

All three referees
Dream they are zebras
Who think they are men.
Licking salt flats
In a busy wild.
Judgemental
Superior
In their supposed righteousness.

Big Al
Back in his hometown
Sees faces from his past.
Faces
He wishes
He could see tonight.
Faces
Now reserved
For dreamtime.

Stacey
Is inside
The Lumina 800.
He is Kevin Flynn
In Tron.
He is Neo
In The Matrix.
Every move
Every atom
Reimagined
By the Sky King.

And on.....
and on......
and on.....

The crowd, however,
Unaware
Continues watching.
All lost in our own little dreams.

0 Comments

Game 71

3/21/2015

1 Comment

CHI 91 DET 107

People who do not know the Great Lakes
Imagine them like other lakes
calm, still, glassy
Only bigger

Stocked with fish
Like the ones in their towns

Memorial Day picnics
And summer camp secrets

Safety

But the Great Lakes
Are not like those lakes at all
But like oceans

Standing at their shores
You see the roundness of the World
On their horizons

Roaring waves
Drowning out the
Clattering city
So powerful
So loud
Until now

Roaring waves
Slamming you down
Pulling you under
Reminding you who’s in charge

And it ain’t you

Now,
I imagine
When drowning
There must come a moment

Of acceptance--
hopefully

Depends on the drowner

A private moment--
Individual

When the cold
Gets a little less cold
And a new kind of fear
Lets you stop
Holding your breath

That moment
Only the drowner
Can decide

This final choice
This one last how and why
Giving us power
Over death

When the fate of the game
Has already been sealed

1 Comment

Game 70

3/20/2015

0 Comments

CHI 108 TOR 92

Game ending
Big win
Looked easy

Their players
Smiling
Hugging
Just as much as ours

Grateful
It is over

Tables turned
I’d be enraged
Disgusted

Instead
I feel sad
Almost

Little boys
Getting up
Laughing

Scraped-up
And confused
Knowing we all
Saw them fall

Four Haiku

Seven foot point guard
A chess grand-master playing
With human pieces

Sometimes games go right
Those ones are easy to watch
I wish there were more

No way around it
I hate Tyler Hansborough
The New Jeff Foster

Hateable players
Less hateable on your team
Loveable even

0 Comments

Game 69

3/18/2015

2 Comments

CHI 103 IND 86

I sometimes joke about Chicago
That the long cold winters
While horrible
Make its people better
And stronger

That’s why people from the Chi
Are so badass
Never-ending winter
Focused minds

Distraction
Survival

I have a buddy from Serbia
Minja--(pronounced Meen-yuh)

Little guy
Nice as hell
Never rattled

Always smiling his sleepy little
Jack and Coke
Smile

Minja was married on a boat--
A party barge

Windy shitty day
Sun turning to rain
Calm waters turning choppy
Gusts getting cold

I deejayed this wedding
Watched my records fly off the turntable

Ripped by the wind
Floating like a frisbee--
Stopping in the air like a Polaroid
Thrown from barge to water
Perfectly

They sing
Men
Arms around shoulders
Sharing one microphone

Drunk
In love
And safe
Together

Songs in an old language
Songs I can’t understand

That remind me of my relatives
Two generations past now
All dead but one

Old Jews
Gathered around my grandmother’s piano
Singing songs in Yiddish

Songs I couldn't understand
Songs that felt like survival
And togetherness

Once I asked Minja
Why so many Serbians play in the NBA

Durink war--he says
First thing
Bombing the school
and hospital
Kid--they havink nothing to do
So play basketball is good
Is better than gang and army and rebel
Is with friend--yes?
I playink music--
The same

Niko grew up just after this time
Of bombs dismissing school
But he
Like all of us
Is an echo

Decoding echoes
though
Is a tricky business

Gunfire
Easily mistaken
For applause

Two Haikus About Mike Dunleavy and Trust
By Stacey King & BullsBard

Trust that you are here
For a reason--to take shots
Don’t think about it

You've got to play D
with the trust that your teammates
Are back there to help

2 Comments

Game 68

3/15/2015

0 Comments

CHI 100 OKC 109

Perspective
Dedicated to Jeff Degernas and the people of Washington, USA

Rose’s MVP season
Day game versus OKC
Watching at a bar with some friends

Durant dominating

Neil and JT
From Oklahoma
Casual fans
Smiling guilty smiles

Knowing less about
Their team
Than me and Jeff

Jeff
Is my best friend
When it comes to sports

Jeff is from Washington
Who lost its team
Just a few years after
Facing Jordan
In the finals

Bulls
Down big
I turn to Jeff--

This is the worst game
I’ve ever seen
I say
Buzzed and hyperbolic

Every OKC game
Is the worst game
I’ve ever seen
He responds

Cold breeze words
Sad truth words

Embarrassed
I smile and
Grateful
Take the loss

0 Comments

Game 67

3/13/2015

0 Comments

CHI 91 CHA 101

Four Haikus

The thing about sports
Is that it creates a bridge
Reveals connection

The Bulls are fighters
No one is denying that
Proud--broken--fighters

Unfortunately
Heart is immeasurable
In wins and losses

Losing to Charlotte
Is like giving something back
To Michael Jordan

0 Comments

Game 66

3/11/2015

0 Comments

CHI 104 PHI 95

Four Haikus

Having seen friends fall
Battling mortality
Finding strength to fight

Aaron fuckin’ Brooks
Little man with big man moves
David slings his rock

Quiet like the night
Nerves of a cat-burglar
Hungry for the hoop

Shouldn’t have been close
Winning it in overtime
Exhale--fall asleep

0 Comments

Game 65

3/9/2015

0 Comments

CHI 91 MEM 101

According to Greek legend
This world was first inhabited
By a race of giants

These giants
Ruled by a pair of brother-kings
Lived thousands of years in peace

The brother-kings
Wise strong and fair
Were loved the world over

But this love angered Zeus
Who felt scorned
And forgotten

In his cunning
Zeus created a game of skill
To separate the brother-kings

Simple and elegant--
One Ball
Two hoops

The prize
A golden goblet
The nectar of the Gods

Now these brothers--
Once kings--
Are gladiators

Entertainers
For gods
And men

0 Comments

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CHI 111 NY 80

CHI 116 TOR 103

CHI 98 CHA 86

CHI 91 DET 107

CHI 108 TOR 92

CHI 103 IND 86

CHI 100 OKC 109

CHI 91 CHA 101

CHI 104 PHI 95

CHI 91 MEM 101

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