The Ball Kid Faints
The sun is infamous
for undoing cocky youth, but why topple
this uncertain girl?
A ball kid catching herself hoping
no one notices her
disequilibrium. Conflagrant 83-degree Melbourne temps.
Flammable universe.
They suspend play when it reaches 90. The body suspends itself.
The Melbourne light rail shinnies in the distance, like a striped-blue fish.
The tennis player holds her hand up,
lends her shoulder. Come, sit in the shade.
—Are you OK? an off-duty RN asks a fellow protester who has been pepper sprayed
a half planet away.