Max C illuminates "Slam,Dunk,Hook"

Slam, Dunk, & Hook

BY YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA

Fast breaks. Lay ups. With Mercury's

Insignia on our sneakers,

We outmaneuvered to footwork

Of bad angels. Nothing but a hot   

Swish of strings like silk

Ten feet out. In the roundhouse  <--------- This is a metaphor. In the roundhouse means to be locked up in 
                                                                                                                                               a shed for the night            
Labyrinth our bodies

Created, we could almost            

Last forever, poised in midair

Like storybook sea monsters.

A high note hung there

A long second. Off

The rim. We'd corkscrew

Up & dunk balls that exploded

The skullcap of hope & good               <----------- This is a metaphor. The skullcap of hope & good means to have faith that        
                                                                                                                          segregation would end.

Intention. Lanky, all hands

& feet...sprung rhythm.

We were metaphysical when girls

Cheered on the sidelines.

Tangled up in a falling,

Muscles were a bright motor

Double-flashing to the metal hoop

Nailed to our oak.

When Sonny Boy's mama died

He played nonstop all day, so hard

Our backboard splintered.

Glistening with sweat,

We rolled the ball off

Our fingertips. Trouble

Was there slapping a blackjack

Against an open palm.

Dribble, drive to the inside,

& glide like a sparrow hawk.

Lay ups. Fast breaks.

We had moves we didn't know

We had. Our bodies spun

On swivels of bone & faith,

Through a lyric slipknot

Of joy, & we knew we were

Beautiful & dangerous

The theme of this poem is to stop segregation. The overall message is for all to be equal and have friendship. Yusef Komunyakaa  wants the reader to understand how it is to be a African-American.
He also relates this to basketball.