Roof Ball

by Tim Leonard

At twilight the dirty soccer ball became hard to see. The boys abandoned the broken street full of junked cars and climbed to the roof where they would have a clear shot.

Out west, past five striped water towers resembling a 'yield' sign standing as a sort of national landmark in Kuwait, an orange ball of sun whirled down into desert night.

To the east, dark aquamarine colors deepened across the Arabian Gulf.

Two Palestian boys kicked the ball around inside the walled roof. One held a black semiautomatic pistol in the air with the safety on while delicately managing the ball off his bare foot. His bored, dark-haired friend chipped away at dusty plaster walls with a broken stick. Discarded brown carpets decorated checkerboard tiles.

The roof was divided by a half-story high extended wall of broken windows and chipped stucco. A collection of bent antennas resembling insect arms searching for prey probed the sky. The boys played on the clean side. The other side of the building extension was scattered debris. An upside down discarded sofa covered with a gray and red ripped and sandblasted fabric resigned to its fate, waved in a useless wind.

A tricycle with worn rubber tires lay stranded next to a rusty ladder. Piles of sand, rocks and an old chair formed a 60-caliber machine gun nest near neatly stacked metal ammunition cases in the corner overlooking a ring road. A pair of open-backed sandals served as a goal, guarded by a tall youth in a fragmented gray sweat suit. The ball bounced off the wall well controlled by the younger player as they patiently waited for the sound of tanks and armored personnel carries rumbling down from the north.

They were ready for a new game.

Tim Leonard, a Vietnam veteran, is a graduate of the University of Oregon. A poet, writer and digital photographer, his work has been published by CREATIVENUE.COM, POETRY SUPERHIGHWAY, STIRRING (V2EI), EBOOKSONTHE.NET, and JOURNAL E. An article and image on El Morro, N.M., will be published by KIDS HIGHWAY.COM in December. Mr. Leonard has extensive international hotel management experience.
Note: Featured author in December 2000
E-mail: tmleonard@earthlink.net
Writing interests: Travel, Children, Poetry, Prose
I.D. Theory articles: "Going North from Santa Fe", "Bali Creativity", "Old Man Hands", "Roof Ball", "Commentary in December", "Sun River", "Leaving Through DIA", "Pawn Takes Pawn", "Elements of Surprise and Laughter", "Field", "Gas is Cheap"
Digital art: "Cutting Fingers," "Error 404 File Not Found," "Scratch," "Remain in the View," "The Orchestra is in the Pits," "National Poetry Month," "Untitled Means Exactly What It Means," "Woman in Thorns," "Royalty Discussing Just Desserts," "Truth Clarity Power Immortality"
Links: Tim's Website