Young Writers Society

Basketball Etiquette


Come to this court
Concrete, or hard parquet
Wooden slats shining, sleek
Grab a ball, but wait a sec
I need to talk to you before you rep
I want to tell you about
Basketball etiquette

First off, when you dunk
You just dunked,
That's all I need
I know you're feeling yourself
As they say, without a trace of embarrassment
Because it could be taken, you know,
In a sexual way, but I digress
If you make a gorilla face
I know you like Lebron, but you got to get
His skill, his play, his magic
Not the way he acts, like a hyperactive git
Beating your chest, snarling like Garnett
He can do that, 'cause he's got rings
What are you, fifteen?
You still take out your family's garbage

But on the other hand, don't land
And then stare at us all like you're the man
Like we're in Saigon and you got us a plane
The last plane out before it falls to the Communists
Behind your death glare, I see a fragile kid
Who thinks acting up will get him chicks
Dunk, drop, pose, don't get in the habit of this
In fact don't even stop, but turn,
Run to our end of the court
Even if you think you can hear
Girls' heartbeats quicken on the bleachers

Now that we got that out of the way, please
Follow me into the lockers and come up to the sink
Do you see this soap? It's going in your kisser
Not just for swearing when you miss a shot
But for saying "In your face" whenever you make layups
For posting "why isn't she making a sandwich" under
Brittney Griner's dunk videos
For every racial epithet you've used
Under videos of Asian ballers
For every attempt to get under someone's skin
For every argument you muscled your ignorant self in
For every jealous barb you typed, behind anonymity's cloak,
For every kid you bullied for any reason you picked

For all instances proving disrespectful to the name of this sport
Even as you keep your eyes up during the dribble, look within
And the corrections your coach suggests shouldn't take precedence
Over improving everything in the equation except what touches the ball
Runs the court, or sets the screen
You can wear ripped shorts and make your hair green
Basketball's virtue is its style, and play isn't always squeaky clean
But bad attitudes, brawls, and hate should be nowhere to be seen.

Hey Remember! Dogs here with your review today! hahahahahhahahahahahahahahaha! I laughed a lot while reading this poem! Great topic really original! Oh I think maybe this should be in Dramatic poetry instead because you are telling a story through the voice of a single person... but no matter! I'll review this anyway! So really good poem, funny, light, but still has a strong message about respect and show boating. Because every time I see that happen when I'm playing I get a little mad so I can relate to this piece.

I really don't have much to say about this piece. This really does sound more like a short story then a poem. Which isn't a bad thing. I think maybe you should also make this poem into a short story cause that would be really funny!

Well thats really all I have to say for this. Keep up the good work! Happy Writing!!!


TuckEr EllsworTh

I loved this poem! It made me laugh so hard! I couldn't find anything that needed changing. Except that I agree with dogs that you should put it in dramatic poetry but it's not a huge deal. My favorite part? By far:

He can do that, 'cause he's got rings
What are you, fifteen?
You still take out your family's garbage

The most meaningful part was ( really the whole stanza):

Now that we got that out of the way, please
Follow me into the lockers and come up to the sink
Do you see this soap? It's going in your kisser
Not just for swearing when you miss a shot
But for saying "In your face" whenever you make layups
For posting "why isn't she making a sandwich" under
Brittney Griner's dunk videos
For every racial epithet you've used
Under videos of Asian ballers
For every attempt to get under someone's skin
For every argument you muscled your ignorant self in
For every jealous barb you typed, behind anonymity's cloak,
For every kid you bullied for any reason you picked

This is so powerful. I agree 100%!

Thanks for posting this. I really liked it.

thanks so much guys! I wanted it to be funny for a poem, but have just a bit of a serious ending. I definitely didn't want it to be a boring poem about taking the fun and energy out of basketball, glad it didn't come across like that.

Hey remember Insanity here! The topic for this poem was very original, and well portrayed. I must say when I read it, it sounded more like a rap in my head than poetry, but then again, rapping is poetry really, isn't it? I don't know, but some of those works by Eminem and Lil' wayne are quite poetic to my ears.
Anyway! I thought you did a great job, and I'm not going to lie, the title gave me false assumptions about this, I was preparing my fingers to begin typing away a hundred edits and fixes, yet, I have no suggestions for editing! This flowed well and contained not a line of awkward wording. Well done Keep writing!