Free Range Youth

In those days we bought gloves with grip pads to go with our Nerf footballs Because our hands were not yet large enough to pantomime dads that stood too close to the TV and ran from commercial breaks We spent hours perfecting lean-tos playing dodgeball in sweat-filled basements discussing the perfect capture the flag strategy and skipping ahead to the battle scenes in action movies We barely had enough breath to eat I have done nothing of the sort in years Now my eyes wither under the glow of computer screen and my lungs never even catch from the thrill of bare feet on grass cradling underdog victory in the last second of the game