19 May 2008

Untitled (Broom, Congas, Carriage, Sunrise, Tenuous)

-Alright, fellas, the writing's on the wall. We've played sixteen basketball games this year and lost them all. And here we are, halftime of another game, playing against a team that is actually legally blind and we're down by sixty. We are on tenuous grounds, men. I'm likely to get fired after this game if we don't pull out a win.

-But coach, they're really fast.

-They're blind, Jenkins!

-Blind people can be fast, coach.

-Fine, touche, Mortinson. But you're just letting them run circles around you.

-I am an artist, coach! I am not a basketball player.

-Then why are you on this college basketball team?

-I need the tuition.

-Get out of my locker room!

-Fine, but first, I'd like to read one of my poems.

-No--

-"The sunrise looks like a man dying, today..."

-That's terrible, Mortinson.

-"A single eagle flies, and I cry, into several buckets..."

-Stop it, Mortinson!

-Coach?

-What is it, janitor?

-Can I play?

-No! You're a janitor.

-I'll give you my broom if you let me play.

-That is not an equal trade, look--

-"Trees fall under my skin and the wind blows me a new heart..."

-Mortinson, I'm going to throw a javelin through your heart.

-Do it, Coach!

-Be quiet, Jenkins! All of you, be quiet. Now look, we should be pounding these kids heads in like congas--

-That's offensive, Coach. I have a brother who is blind. And also has a drum for a head.

-Well, I'm sorry to hear that--

-He also plays for the time we're playing against right now.

-Ok, fine. That's fine. Look, men--

-I can't do this coach. Not to my brother. Here, take my jersey.

-I don't want it.

-What if I give you my broom AND my mop bucket.

-No, I don't need those things.

-AND my jumper?

-No. TEAM.

-Coach, the buzzer is going off.

-I can hear it. Look, pick and roll and--IT doesn't even matter. Just play really quiet so they don't hear you.

-"I will break away and become a spider-person but I am no spider-man..."

-Mortinson, your poems are terrible.

-Your LIFE is terrible, coach.

-Coach, is your team going to come out and play this second half or what?

-Yes, I'm just trying to finish my speech, Referee.

-Coach, your team is losing by sixty points to blind people.

-I'm well aware.

-Maybe you aren't a good coach.

-Maybe you're a jerk.

-Oh, is the wittle baby coach offended now.

-No.

-Oh, is the wittle coach gonna cry and pout.

-Shut up, referee.

-Want your bottle? Maybe your wittle baby carriage? Want me to push you around the court while you suck your thumb?

-No, I do not.

-Come on, little baby coach. I want to put you in a crib.

-Team! Where are you guys going?

-Some guy just came in and made Mortinson the Poet Laureate, so we're gonna go to his induction ceremony.

-This is stupid.

-Awww, is the little baby coach cry-crying because he didn't win the Poet of the Year award?

-He didn't win poet of the year. He's the Poet Laureate. It's two different things.

-Awww, is the little baby coach getting wrapped up in semantics.

-Why are you still here, Ref?

-Because I'm homeless. My wife divorced me. Let me live with you.

-No.

-Please? I know how to make homemade relish.

-I...fine. Whatever.

-Hooray! I'm going to jump on your back now.

-Don't.

-Here I go!

-OW! I think you broke my entire spine.

-Haha! Roommate, you are so funny.

~Jake Goldman is a writer living in New York City. some of his work can be found here: 23/6 (http://www.236.com/contributors/jake_goldman/)

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