viviane smith played
football
viviane smith played football
with us neighborhood boys in her backyard
it was a compromise we made
viviane’s family had the biggest backyard
in the neighborhood
it was the only one you could play football in
wide enough for slant patterns or to go long
all the soft grass made it easy for us
to play tackle instead of tag
like we had to do out there on the street
there were no cars in viviane smith’s backyard
to stop playing for
of course, her old man didn’t want her to play
he’d sit in the backyard with a beer
he’d yell at us boys to be
careful for christ’s sake
she’s a girl, he
kept reminding us
as if we didn’t know it
as if none of us had discussions about the tits
that grew over night
the braces that came off that september
the curves that had developed out of mortal flesh
and the new haircut that viviane got
that made her more of an anomaly
doing button hooks or hiking the ball
we did our best to keep her safe
we put viviane in for the soft plays
the kick-offs and punts
the running plays where she only had to block
we tried not to tackle her
but if some wise guy had her go long on third and ten
sometimes we had no choice
then it was a battle of the sexes
male pride in bloom
viviane smith running for her life downfield
with one, two, three of us in hot pursuit
forgetting about those tits
forgetting that haircut
or the fact that when she sunbathed that past summer
we made it more of a point to come around
and sit in the backyard with her
sipping ice tea or cherry coke
imagining less than football glory in those moments
and much more than we were sure to get
from this strange new creature
who’d just bloomed right in front of us
without our knowledge or consent.
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