You’ve really got to be in love
  if you’re playing badminton in a park
    under the Cambie bridge in the dark
  like when it’s been fully dark for at least 45 minutes

You can only see the bird
  when it’s within a few feet of your head
  and then you have to mangle and contort your body
    to get your racquet on it all
  and if you’re lucky—really lucky
    you can propel it back in the right direction
    with any meaningful force or intent

Then you relax
  with a Machiavellian grin as your partner
  squints into the deep dark blue sky
  desperate for a mercifully early glimpse
  of the incoming intermittent birdie
  before repeating the contortionist game
  back at you

And if the love is new and fresh
  [or better yet, unconsummated]
  the sexual tension of the mutual pursuit with racquet
  can last for hours
  despite the dwindling light

Copyright 2002, Stephen Buckley
08.29.02