Morgan Boyer

Football

Just imagine that football is dragon ball.

My mother pointed to boys tackling
each other on artificial field-grass.

Just wait until the second quarter.
We’ll leave right after we see the marching band.
You watch people beat each other up
in your Japanese cartoons. It’s no different.

I rolled my eyes, Yes, but I’m not freezing, wet, tired and hungry surrounded
by shouting strangers, bright lights & sitting on this cold piece of metal.

Well, tough, because now Alex is in the
marching band. Oh, George, I didn’t see
you there. How’s work? My mother spots
a high school friend who sits down
and begins chatting.

Mom, I’m really, really cold!

Play with your Gameboy, I’m talking to George.

I whipped out my Gameboy Advance.
I was in the middle of saving up volcanic
ashes in my “soot sack” from Route 113
in order to get a Black Flute from the old
glassmaker in his cottage. 1,000 steps with the help
of my trusty Absol in front; we could face anything,  
and in this 32-bit island chain, there were no frigid football
stadiums, no being forced to play second fiddle.
I was Champion. Each step toward the black
flute, I strolled knowing that the umbrella ladies,
ninjas and birdkeepers knew me as their queen,
not their princess. Not second. Not third. I was first.   

Look, mom, I got a black flute! I flashed the screen to her.

Oh, that’s great, sweetie. Anyway George, I’ll
look into whether or not I can come.
Alex’s band schedule has been pretty hectic.

Morgan Boyer is the author of The Serotonin Cradle (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and a graduate of Carlow University. Boyer has been featured in Kallisto Gaia Press, Thirty West Publishing House, Oyez Review, Pennsylvania English, and Voices from the Attic. Boyer is a neurodivergent bisexual woman who resides in Pittsburgh, PA.