The Crossover

Practice

Coach reads to us from

The Art of War:

A winning strategy is

not about planning, he says.

It’s about quick responses

to changing conditions.

Then he has us do

footwork drills

followed by

forty wind sprints

from the baseline

to half court.

The winner doesn’t

have to practice today, Coach says,

and Vondie blasts off

like Apollo 17,

his long legs

giving him an edge,

but I’m the quickest guy

on the team,

so on the last lap

I run hard,

take the lead by a foot,

and even though I don’t plan it,

I let him win

and get ready to practice

harder.