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The Pioneer Park Basketball League

There’s this guy on Twitter who keeps posting about Pioneer Park’s homeless population in a really low-brow way. He stops to take photos of what he sees as “conflicting” images, then uses them to argue against the $20 million upgrade to the park, which is slated for completion by the end of this year. One of his recent posts shows a homeless person with a necrotic arm passed out near the tennis courts while children play nearby. He uses that photo to claim the park improvements will only benefit the people who already “loiter” there between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. He fails to mention that shelters have curfews. People leave the park not because they’re done "loitering" — but because they know they’ll lose their bed and meal if they don’t check in on time. Now that I’m living near the park and connected not just by proximity but by community, I find those blind takes misguided. For the past few weeks, around 6 p.m., I’ve walked over to the basketball courts. Yes, the ones surrounde...
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Moving Sideways

What brings two people together?

Similarities. Differences. Sexual appeal. Mental pull. Goals. Motivations. Inspiration. Convenience. 

The list goes on. But what can bring them together can ultimately tear them apart, no matter how strong or deep the underlying bond.

I understand now.

Two people. Neither has a grasp of what comes next. What they want. What they need.

Neither tethered to a goal worth chasing. Apathetic to the daily wake-up reminder to find purpose. Both conditioned themselves to keep their distance from people, from hope, out of instinct more than a choice. 

Slowly dying.

They met with recognition as opposed to passion. An understanding. Comfort in being with someone who gets you for you.

The days became the same. 

As one steps back and recognizes their potential for more, the other's nature overgrew and eventually balanced out. Not because they meant to. These things tend to happen when sedentary meets momentum. 

It's not "right place, wrong time." They were in the right place. They were at the right time. It just wasn't for reasons they understood at the time.

They didn't move forward or backward. 

Together, they moved sideways. 

This connection needed to happen. For both of them. 

It showed them what was real and what never was. It left them with something — perspective, maybe. Something to carry into whatever comes next.

They may still love each other. But it's different now. 

They may still find their way back to one another. But it's harder now.

One can only wish the other well. 

That is understanding. 

That is love.

"I no longer love her, that is certain, but maybe I love the pain of having loved her." - Franz Kafka