A Boy Juggling a Soccer Ball by Christopher Merrill (2001)

after practice: right foot 



to left foot, stepping forward and back,  



to right foot and left foot, 



it on his thigh as he twists 



and left foot up to his thigh, holding  



like a tickle of sweat, not catching  



around in a circle, until it rolls  down the inside of his leg, 



  once, twice, three times, and tapping on the soft side of his foot, and juggling 



and holding the ball in midair,  hopping on one foot like a jump-roper  in the gym, now trapping balancing it on the instep 



lifting it overhead until it hangs there;  of his weak left foot, stepping forward  and forward and back, then and squaring off his body, 



until the ball, slowing, balances  he keeps the ball aloft with a nudge  of his neck, heading it from side to side, softer and softer,  like a dying refrain, 



hunching his shoulders itself on his hairline, the hot sun and sweat filling his eyes  as he jiggles this way and that, then flicking it up gently,  



blades of brown grass in summer heat;  and tilting his head back, he traps it  in the hollow of his neck, and bending at the waist, sees his shadow,  his dangling T-shirt, the bent 



he stumbled into, and pressing and relaxing, the ball slipping down his back. . .and missing his foot. 



He wheels around, he marches  over the ball, as if it were a rockand settles on his extended thigh before 



his left foot against it, he pushes it against the inside of his right until it pops into the air, is heeled over his head--the rainbow!-- rolling over his knee and down  



of summer, around the empty field. 



his shin, so he can juggle it again from his left foot to his right foot —and right foot to left foot to thigh—  



as he wanders, on the last day 

Source: poets.org

Analysis

I chose this poem because I played soccer throughout my childhood. Juggling is a sort of solo practice where one learns to control his touch on the ball. This poem, specifically, describes a boy staying on the field, after practice, and juggling. It describes each move, each transition, he makes as he attempts to better himself. The main theme of this poem is that practice makes perfect. As with all sports, it takes hard work and dedication to better yourself; therefore, bettering the team. 

The author uses similes to describe the careful technique the boy uses. For example, "until it rolls/ down the inside of his leg,/ like a tickle of sweat", is used to describe the light touches and smooth rolling the boy uses to keep control of the ball. Moreover, the author uses these similes as a form of imagery. "Hopping on one foot like a jump-roper/in the gym, now trapping/ and holding the ball in midair". The reader is able to follow the movement and control of the ball as the boy practices. The author continues to use repetition to describe these moments. The tone of this poem is very serious. It is used to give the reader the sense of focus the boy is using to control the ball. At the end of the poem, the author begins to describe the hot summer day the boy is enduring, With this description, the boy finally misses and drops the ball. Rather than dread on it, the boy immediately uses a trick to get the ball back up in the air, and continues to juggle. This brings the story back in a full circle. The boy has started the juggling back up and is ready to concentrate and work hard. Hard work and dedication to better himself for the love of the game.