The basketball rolled
slowly
across a clean sheet of aluminum foil,
unbent and fresh.
The ball rolled, in a flat perfect orbit,
straight towards the Great Figure,
at the end of a street lined with thick, old trees.
The people,
all watching,
caught the ball out of the corners of their eyes
as the ball came close to the Great Figure.
All the people in the world saw this ball.
Earlier,
the ball had rolled for many days and nights,
so that decades became easy:
History gave this ball its density
as it rolled so slowly on the clean sheet of aluminum foil.
All the people in the world were told of this ball,
just seconds before it would reach the Great Figure,
and its open, wanting arms.
They turned their heads,
held their breath,
and could do nothing more.
Title repeated ten times before recitation of poem,
which is read in a deep voice as a Gregorian chant.
© 1992 Daniel X. O'Neil
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