alley-oop

You’ve now named your demons

You now stare them down with no small trepidation

but you do it

You now find that doing so on a daily basis is not so daunting as it once was

You play a mean offensive against them everyday

and you keep score like I ask you to

It is quite possible you have gotten better with my help

My jump shot has improved

Alley-ooping is now something I’m happy to do for you

And even when I miss

You just seem content that I’m there to listen

to whatever random Larry Bird trivia

(How many other 14 year olds do this?)

that enters your beautiful brilliant anxious brain

It is quite likely that I have gotten much better with your help