Student Poetry SamplesExcerpts taken from the Basketball & Poetry Workshop.Instructor: John Coy, author of Strong to the Hoop  from Strong to the Hoop illustration by Leslie Jean-Bart ZACH SINKS A SHOT! By Alex Kies My shirt is long and white and covered in a Tom Gugliotta Timberwolves uniform. I wear blue shorts down to my knees, a Texas Rangers blue baseball cap, red brim to the back. I run to the free-throw line of the court in the gym. I shoot it. And sink it. I notice Zachary, my little brother, trying to sink one. I walk over to him. I tell him to try, to try, to try again, and you will make it. He tries and tries and tries again. And he sinks one! He thanks me a million times, and I tell him basketball is a game of grace—it isn't easy. Practice is required, try some more. Come on, let's play one on one. THE GLORY OF BASKETBALL By Jonathan Lindstrom A bouncing basketball is like a big yo-yo, going up and down. When I run with the ball, I feel like an ostrich, fast as the wind. My pulse reminds me of the Mississippi River, flowing with a steady, quiet rhythm. Basketballs lined up behind the foul line, remind me of balls I hit at the batting cage, all of them landing in the same area. The sound of the ball slapping my finger tips, going up and down, is the sound of a snow leopard, running in a blizzard. Dribbling balls sound like stampeding antelope. Balls coming at me sound like charging rhinos. When I shoot a basket and my hands release the ball, I feel like a bald eagle flapping its wings. Running up and down the court, makes my heart jump around like a hyper orangutan. I breathe faster and faster like a train at full speed. THE GAME by Emily Lomax Sounds like a beat of music echoing on the old wood floor A drum in your neck starts beating really fast, Looks like a fence with the basketballs in a line, Following the ball it feels like a baby hippopotamus. Running a race like a rhyme in your head Jumping up and down following the ball. Maybe you're under deep pressure, When you're running at a high speed, Trying to beat the ball. Back to Workshop-Page 1 Back to Strong to the Hoop  Download the John Coy Basketball and Poetry Workshop in PDF format now. |
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