Catch

By Samiya Bashir Samiya Bashir

if this is a game then we have made it, unknowing,

to the final four. unlikely underdogs. spectators turned

to suspect sport. anti-athletes. out of shape beyond reason.

at season’s height we fight for a limited audience. few dancers.

fewer cheers. down by 30 and our coach m.i.a. we, foolish, dribble.

each bounce-back brings a stranger. can’t call us for traveling because

we ain’t going nowhere. instead, we trade terrified looks. search

for the pass but no one stays open for long. even if we knew what to do

to pull this through we’ve got two other teams waiting, impatient, to take us out.

Samiya Bashir, “Catch” from Gospel. Copyright © 2009 by Samiya Bashir. Reprinted by permission of RedBone Press.

Source: Gospel (RedBone Press, 2009)

Biography

An editor, writer, and communications consultant for nonprofit and arts organizations, Samiya Bashir earned a BA in the literature of American ethnic cultures from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1994. Her full-length collections of poetry include Where the Apple Falls: poems (2005) and Gospel: poems (2009); she is also the author of the chapbooks Wearing Shorts on the First Day of Spring (1999), American Visa (2001), . . .

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