Tranquiity

I stand alone, my head swimming

Hundreds of hardwood boards beneath my feet creaking with every step

As if communicating in the cryptic language of those who came before me

Ball clutched in my hand,

I begin to clear my head

Shot after shot is hurled from behind the arc

All the while, my brain hyper-focusing on every detail

Like a violinist meticulously analyzing his bow stroke

“Keep your elbow in”

“Bend your knees”

“Elbow at ninety degrees”

“Rest the ball in your palm”

“Elevate”

“Release the ball at the top of your jump”

“Lock your elbow above your eyes”

Simple right?

My worldly problems are replaced by present, more controllable ones

My head still swimming in a less murky water I have deemed “clear”

As I line up my 499^th shot, a door opens

I pay little attention to it 

As all of it is spent on achieving “basketball nirvana”

The shot clangs off the rim

I convulse in frustration

For all my efforts, I am back where I started

Basketball: a game of circles

My peripheral finally detects the motion in the doorway

I glance over am instantly spellbound by a waterfall of gold

Cascading down delicate shoulders only to end in the ripple of a perfect curl

The waterfall’s mouth begins to move her lips to form words

However, I do not hear them;

I am still trying to swim away from the mysterious pull of the undertow

She repeats the word as my attention gradually shifts to her ruby lips

I watch them cavort as she forms the word again and again

“Jack”

“Jack”

Suddenly, I recognize the mysterious dance as my name

The girl beckons me to follow her

I hesitate, glancing down at the basketball resting beneath my foot

Accepting her invitation would mean abandoning the only thing I love

I don’t want to give up this game

Like a kid who doesn’t want to remove a cast

For, after the cast is gone, you lose one of the things you have become known for

I cautiously edge towards her

Like a child tentatively taking his first steps into a swimming pool

Unsure of what is ahead, terrified in fact, yet drawn forward by the mystery

Finally I give in and sprint towards her

As I reach her, I am greeted with a warm hug that encompasses my entire body

Like a sweater on a cold night

Suddenly my mind stops swimming

Suddenly, I am floating in a sea of glass tranquility

True peace

I never imagined that this feeling was possible

In crossing the threshold of the gym door, 

I had inadvertently crossed into a new phase of my life

It required me giving up something I cared about to discover the one thing I truly loved

Now, I stand with her.