In June 2026, the New York Knicks faced off against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
It is 11:10 at night
And I am watching a basketball game.
This is a first.
Though by watching, I mean I am alone in my room
There is no game in front of me
Only a cheer from somewhere I think is
West, or maybe east, but I never claimed to be a cartographer.
Twenty-three hours into the day
One hour between this day and another
With my ears akimbo, I tune in.
It is 11:12 at night
My lights are off and the Knicks are On.
One minute passes and
I refresh my browser, refresh again.
It is still 11:13 at night
But at 11:13 in the morning today
You could find me standing outside the Cage
On West Fourth street. That’s real athletics
Those baller boys in the Cage
But tonight I am rooting for the Knicks.
It is 11:17 at night.
The city holds its breath so I do too
The Knicks have won twelve straight games
I looked it up.
Not for the first time in my life
Am I feeling the ‘tism
Patriotism, that is, to this island-nation of
Manhattan.
It is 11:20 at night
When I exhale.
The Knicks have won.
Don’t need Google to tell me that.
My bedroom window, nearly level with the sidewalk,
That’s enough. When I was younger,
I would sit in the window and write
Made-up narratives about the people who passed by
The man I used to call my Guardian Angel Drug Dealer
The one who made sure I got home from the subway safe,
The woman who went through each building’s trash
Extracting bottles to trade in. These days the bins are color-coded.
I sit in the nook of my bedroom window in Harlem and hear
Sirens’ song. Word on the street Mamdani abolished bedtime.
Consider Seventh Avenue seized.
Who’s playing?
Why, the Knicks, of course.
It is 11:23 at night
And I am Pindar,
If he sang of orange and blue.
It’s occasional poetry.
I’d name the heroes of the night, but I don’t know them.
Pindar’s players, though, I can name them off the top of my head
Hieron of Syracuse, Theron of Akragas
It irks me that I know these names and not the others.
But tonight, the Knicks don’t seem to mind.
2026