It's not that we were afraid
of being bright, pigs, cool, or gay
it's worse
we were midliners
middle of the road
monkeys in the middle
the rubber ball always flew above our heads
beyond our outstretched arms
two inches
the span of a universe to a miss
the yearning of touch for us kids
we always ******
medium built
medium length hair
medium length nose
experimenting with tried and true formulaic expressions
set before us by the happy mediums of the art world
full of holes
our brains seeped out
set on fire
then stamped out
one day I dreamt I held the ball in blind fury
the idiot older kid doubled over
wretching on my brown shoes
moment of glory
I punched him in the gut
I clutched the previously elusive orb
wearing a toothy grin
I was no monkey in the middle then