She steps up to the free throw line

The site of it takes me back in time

To when I was just a 6^th-grader

My knees were shaking

Parents were in the stands, along with coaches and teammates

Back then I didn’t know about critics and haters

My hands were quaking

I bounced the ball then shot, it rattled out both times

I didn’t know it then, but I was a perfectionist in the making

23 years later I watch a 22-year-old

Every seat in the arena sold

Tied game

All the rafters and stands are white

College kids, parents, opponents, recruiters

The net blends right in, obscuring the sight of the shooter

Where is the rim

Hands waver in the background then move as she launches

Parents, coaches, recruiters on their haunches

Don’t forget all the other kids

Dressed in face paint

And those who placed their bids

Did you mistake them for saints

The young woman bends then arcs her shot

It hits the back of the rim and hits like a block

The crowd claps

All those pestering students laugh

Then begin the boos

Every one in the stands vying for her to lose

The second shot releases as the crowd sways their hands

Then follows an eruption in the stands

The final buzzer sounds

That young woman went down

But she got up

Into the parking lot, to the next practice, to the next game

She remembered her name

Recited good things

Remembered why she loved to play

Next time around she nailed those shots

Though the gremlins held their spots

She became the all-time leading scorer

All the doubters were floored

She wasn’t phased

She inspired me

At 35, I laced up my shoes

Went to work, went to the race, went to the deposition

Rehearsed and unrushed

The gremlins in my head hushed

They are just that – in my head

The bleachers are empty

I am determined to be the best me