The Winning Basket, by Duane Yarnell, chapters 15, 16, and 17

Stories Come to Life

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Welcome to Stories Come to Life. I am your host, Kathryn Lopez Luker. When I was visiting my parents a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was reading The Winning Basket on this podcast. Pleased, Dad shared with me this poem that seems very fitting for Ben’s tale. It is one of the poems in a book called Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle, which is an anthology of poetry edited by Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith. The poem, Foul Shot, was written by Edwin A. Hoey and here it is:

Foul Shot

With two 60s stuck on the scoreboard
And two seconds hanging on the clock,

The solemn boy in the center of eyes,

Squeezed by silence,

Seeks out the line with his feet,

Soothes his hands along his uniform,

Gently drums the ball against the floor,

Then measures the waiting net,

Raises the ball on his right hand,

Balances it with his left,

Calms it with fingertips,

Breathes,

Crouches,

Waits,

And then through a stretching of stillness,

Nudges it upwards.

The ball

Slides up and out,

Lands,

Leans,

Wobbles,

Wavers,

Hesitates,

Plays it coy

Until every face begs with unsounding screams--

And then

And then

And then,

Right before ROAR-UP,

Drives down and through.

What do you think? Does that fit this story? I think so.

Now, sit back, relax, and listen to this story come to life.

Listening to audiobooks really does count as reading, and there's no better way to relax than to hear Stories Come to Life!
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