Write a three-part response to either Regina Barreca’s “Nighttime Fires,” (787),or Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Slam, Dunk, & Hook” (1211). You will summarize the poem, paraphrase it, and then discuss the development of your understanding of the poem over multiple

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Yusef Komunyakaa and the Art of B-Ball

Summary

Yusef 's Komunyakaa poem Slam Dunk and Hook describes the brilliance of being young , playing ball , and the images of life that are associated with this paradigm (the paradigm of being young and playful Komunyakaa describes how the boys on the court epitomize life with playing ball and all of their important moments , their growth , and their `life lessons ' are equated to being on the court

Paraphrase

Mercury , God of

speed , boys like gods in their shoes . Wings , like angels , faster and faster , till the rubber melts with the pavement on the hot summer blacktop . Mercury , lording over the playground , a large god deeming all the boys his warriors through advertisement . One pair of shoes a release from the boredom of being human

Good versus evil and the sides switch everyday and the hoodlums more prone to being the antihero than anything pure , but , the clichy remains good always conquers evil , so the boys hope . But these boys are bad angels sometimes and Mercury is not a merciful god , he is faster , purer and unconquerable and thus the side of good was the right side for these b-ball players to play on . The sound of the basketball hoop swaying after a slam dunk was a testament to this triumph over evil . The sound was like Gabriel 's trumpet breaking the wall 's of Jericho . That swoosh of the net against the hot ball being bounced hard against the sun-soaked pavement , catching the spider-web like strings of that net set so high above the adolescents of youth was remarkable . The sound was an addiction and so for the rest of the boys ' life who lived day by day by that blacktop rules the sound was a cry for playing , for triumphing , for justice , and for life

The playground , the basketball court created giants . The ability to fly ten feet into the air and land the ball inside the circle was a feat , each boy relished it , glorified in it , and became men with each dunk . Nothing made them feel small . The story was a fairy tale , how growing up there were troubles , bad angels , gods in sneakers and all of it revolved around the way the bodies shined with sweat flying through the air like a Pegasus , like some mythical creature unable to be real unless seen by an audience

The girls were the pinnacle of a man 's youth , their smell and intoxicating liquor through the air when the other smells were burning asphalt , sweat , and Red Zone deodorant almost past its prime . They would jump , and cheer , and holler to match the moves of the bodies spinning . They glared and were hypnotized by the sinews of fifteen year old boys not yet men but close . Finally it was death that was a unifying figure in this black top world . It was Sonny Boy 's mama who gave a true definition to the...