Poetic License: Six days in the life of Wilson One
Day six and beyond
There is life after tennis!
God knows how many days
I lay there in the recycling bin,
forgotten, waiting to be shredded.
Suddenly the pro drops
a new batch of discarded balls
into the bin and I tumble out,
roll down the steps, right
into the mouth of a cocker spaniel!
This is it, I thought, the end.
He’ll chew me into shreds for sure.
Instead, he runs over into
the playground section by the pool.
A four year old named Penn Junior
takes me out of his mouth, squeals happily,
throws me as hard as he can for a few feet
and Alter the Cocker (that’s his name)
keeps running me down and retrieving me,
over and over and over –
delightful, happy happy me!
It takes me a while
to get used to the saliva
and I’ve never liked being wet
but I’m bouncing and rolling again
and Alter never tires of retrieving me.
True, it’s no longer tennis
but I’m making someone happy:
Penn Junior takes me everywhere:
the pool, the playground. the pre-school,
his bathtub and kisses and puts me
under his pillow every night.
I’ve found true love at last.
Life’s a real ball again.
I no longer miss Topspin.