The Invention of Spur Ball
I.
four men in their thirties
ten years removed from their shared years of college
playing in a pool
making up a hybrid game
half baseball, half waterpolo
drinking bottled beers, shirtless
this battered motel in the Wyoming dusk
this splashing and laughing
indicative of summer, old friends
these children are not happy
you could never tell
these children
four men in their thirties
II.
one man in his thirties
avoiding his own marriage
instead of a weekend at the alter
he’s chosen a week in the Winds
grinding through wilderness
heavy packs, weather systems
sweat, chills, exhaustion
11,000 feet and hard to breathe
and here we are gasping
four men in their thirties
III.
another man in his thirties
his job is constructing roads
a life that chose him
he’s where he has to be
but with this timeout
he’s here with us, stepping out
usually he reads to get away
or thinks about his father
or pays a stripper to fake it
four men in their thirties
IV.
another man in his thirties
with the widest girth
that contradicts his athleticism
a college tennis coach living out west
far from home, family, etc
and he talks about being the stranger
about mistakes made and no regrets
about hanging up the racket
this gregarious soul
four men in their thirties
V.
and finally me, I just turned thirty-two
still thin but not exactly lean
laidback but not exactly stress-free
New York City will do that
to be or not to be is my constant inquiry
to be in love or be alone
to be doing what I am or be somewhere else
and I doubt this is special
which is why I consider not being
four men in their thirties
VI.
spur ball was a success
our week in the Winds: no one hurt, all survived
small adversity and many a challenge
several reconnections with each other, with the earth
and before I returned to “the regularly scheduled”
I remember basking in angry sky reflections
off the still, indoor hotel pool,
no one around and feeling returns of the bleak
four renewed friends in their thirties
venture to a strip club, a final experience
children looking for a breast
and I met a woman named Faith.