New and Selected Poems “The Strike”
The Strike
(work in progress: for CD)
At bat is the son of a pro
who looks as though he never leaves
the batter’s box without a hit
Cody is pitching his first inning:
a long shadow of an arm
opens its small hand
and sends a dark disc speeding
over the flat stretch toward home
“Strike One”
Only the next fastball breathes
in the agonizing heat
and fathers close their eyes
conferring with fragments of the future
in the only game that will somehow ever matter
“Strike Two”
There are three sounds you can hear
if you listen closely–It’s never
that restrained at a Cubs game
It is the sound of a perfect fastball
released across the long barrier
of years from mound to plate
and the impossible difference
between the home run clap of a bat
and the sting and leather slap of an out
It’s the umpire waiting
on the one authoritative second
when he’ll shout as witness and judge
a life-changing verdict
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