Draining sweat out of my mind on the black line
wondering how the hell did we get here???…

one minute it’s 5on5.
i’m on the JV squad beating varsity with ease.
intense energy arise.

next minute, coach is ******. has all of us on the line like soldiers. running in sections of groups of 3-4

varsity runs first
JV next
freshman third
whoever’s left just run last.

as we look at the scoreboard,
the death clock is set for one minute.
all we have to do is beat the clock
before time runs out,
otherwise we keep running.

a full-court “Kentucky Derby” sprint
and yet, we’ve been practicing for 7 hours
on a school night.
mentally exhausted
from homework due tomorrow.
physically in pain from the drills.

Coach yells: “NEXT GROUP!”

dam_. here we go.

Coach: “GO!”
**tick, tick, tick