An unstoppable wave of frenzied kids
break onto the schoolyard basketball courts
after pushing past Buddha, the lone fat boy.
He plods toward the quiet of the aging playground
and rests on a splintering wooden see-saw.
He takes a confirming glance at the half-courts,
at the reedy boys dressed in NBA merch,
too short to reach the rim, and levitates,
no wood below him, knowing that a lay up
is not the path to the bliss of balance.
(October 2026)
