Jabari Parker Heeds N.B. A.’s Call,
Bypassing Formal Mormon Mission
 ‑NYT Headline, 6/25/14

Six feet, eight inches of Sweet Jesus
dribbled into your home in living color,
a hallelujah of slam dunks and triple-doubles,
three-point plays proselytizing as much as any
white-shirt-wearing, door-knocking, man on a mandated mission
to get you off your inherited holey couch and onto a pew
chiseled from his great-grandfather’s conversion
a hundred years ago in Tonga. It’s a live ball, so listen
to the hymn of whistling referees,
their black-and-white thinking almost ready
to pivot into eternity. The game clock keeps ticking,
and ESPN cameras zoom in
waiting for the NBA’s MVP play
of faith to jump-start
a new, rowdy crowd
ready to crash
the boards.