the same game for thirty-five years

for nearly

35 years, with a group of guys,

mostly

men,

boys,

an occasional girl,

we played basketball at the same court.

a small

full court,

paved and lined

with string

nets, surrounded

by old homes

and trees.

each Saturday morning

at ten a.m.

eleven

on Sunday we showed up

to play ball.

we didn't call each other

on the phone,

never celebrated

birthdays

or marriages, or the birth

of children,

we rarely

saw

one another outside of the game,

but we were friends,

thick as thieves

until the end.

and then we got old,

some moved, some passed on,

summers faded as

autumn arrived,

but we limped onward,

then winter

took over.

and we were gone.