playing in parkas

the weather dips again to where our speech makes idle condensation
and in that full dull lull of evening, as the cold fogs the windows,
and dogs hog the heater, I suggest a hit of table tennis, as you do.
And DF who was happily strumming away on his guitar says "Um...Ok"
So we prepare for our polar expedition to the carport
and a Parka feels slightly ridiculous and anti-nimble
and DF plays in gloves and layers
and I quickly notice the ground that a Parka gives away
a foot across the table, flat footed on the concrete
'I feel constricted' I say declining a smash
not getting the spin
but we agree it's better to be warm
like Lollypop people
and to work towards the objective
of shedding our handicap

And like running in gumboots or up sand dunes
it could be a recognised training routine, playing in parkas
because once we shed the cladding we change gear
and turn serious, and I stop ear bashing DF
about my so-called soap opera in lollypop
and take on my opponent

well as serious as random ping pong can ever really be
and as the top spin morphs across the rally
we exchange a mini smile casually

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Comments: playing in parkas

Very neat - a nice balance of the conversational & the lyrical.
Posted by Dick Jones at May 29, 2004 04:39 AM

thanks.

I think a blog is a good place to practice that balance...
Posted by boynton at May 31, 2004 12:25 PM

See - you are neat, B.
And clever.


Posted by wen at June 2, 2004 02:44 PM