Today we had to write a letter to a famous person or yourself and receive a reply. I hope Luka never googles himself.

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Prompt 11: “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a two-part poem, in the form of an exchange of letters. The first stanza (or part) should be in the form of a letter that you write either to yourself or to a famous fictional or historical person. The second part should be the letter you receive in response.” 

First, a comic effect: Slovenian comedian Klemen Slakonja has done parodies of Putin, Trump etc, but here is his fan and fun take on Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player in Dallas. Klemen is acting all three main characters.

And now the letters.

Dear Luka,

Tell me, how is it
in the land of make believe?
How do you cope?
How do you live?
Are you being made to pay
for what others did in history?
When you get hit, bitten, grabbed,
pinched, scratched, smacked, 
how often a call comes 
and how often none?
How hard is it to keep your mouth shut
and not yell every single time
“Aaaand one”?
And after all the passes you dish out
so generously,
is it hard not being passed to
at an All Stars game
and sometimes even at your own?
But most of all I wish to know
how you, who does all to win like a boss,
handle something called a scheduled loss.
No need to tell me, I can see it clear as day:
on those nights you don’t even play.

Dear Manja,

Thank you for your concern,
I’m just fine. 
The bruises you see
are a sign 
of their lost honour 
not mine,
mine pale in comparison.
But what keeps me going
almost every night
is the memory of how
you and others of my nation
laughed at my father at the time
he played for Polzela,
saying he was too fat,
couldn’t jump,
barely made it across the court,
but he knew how to score
and now his son is settling it,
the score.
But when a loss is scheduled
it means money wins,
and to compete against that 
in the NBA
is a mortal sin.
I’d be tempted though, no doubt,
and that’s why, you know, I’m out.

Here is another poem on basketball I wrote without even a prompt.

You can find many collections of his highlights online, here are just too, out of playing time.

Luka Doncic can’t miss @MainTeamSports pic.twitter.com/HPZkzoGEgH

— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) February 8, 2021

The rail cam almost took out @luka7doncic 😅 pic.twitter.com/2wjB4tSzfL

— ESPN (@espn) July 29, 2020

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In photos, the places where I played basketball first and last, and some hilarious action shots (which you may have seen already).

For:

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This day in my NaPoWriMo history (2020):

Quarantine flowers

Now is still a good time.
Spring is in its mild phase
and flowers are a good sign.

As long as they bloom, it’s fine,
before drought claims green space.
Now is still a good time.

Bees are still buzzing around
but blooms are harder to trace,
and flowers are a good sign.

Do you want to find the right rhyme,
and rank flowers fallen from grace?
Now is still a good time.

Jealousy, beauty sublime?
Symbols are not in a race,
and flowers are a good sign.

Compared to what waits in line,
quarantine is a good place,
now is still a good time
and flowers are a good sign.