Poetry Prompt: Playing Alone

Go to the gym by yourself, and play your favorite sport. Shoot baskets by yourself, hit a volleyball off the wall, bang a tennis ball off the wall, kick free kicks in soccer, etc. As you do these things, concentrate on the sound and the feel of the sport. What does it sound like in an empty gym to bang a ball off the wall? What does it feel like when the ball comes off the inside of your foot? Below is an example of a "playing alone" poem.

"Shooting"
by B.H. Fairchild

Dusk was best. Searching
for the perfect shot,
I’d dribble, pivot, jump,
let go, and watch the ball
float full-moon across
a darkening sky, then sink
into the strings that hugged,
then dropped it to the ground.
Far into night
I stayed, moving through
the backyard gloom, a ghost
even to myself, shooting
where I couldn’t see.
The sounds of bounce and jump
echoed from the house,
followed by the silence
of the ball’s long flight.
Going up, each time
my body felt itself
curve evenly from toe
to shoulder, through arms
and fingertips that sensed
the arc the ball would take
before the quick whisper
somewhere in the dark.