Diving for the ball,
Balling into a dust-
Orange roll,
The catcher tossed it back to the pitcher
After a ball three, and walked up to him.
The descent of the night's sky
Made the ballfield lights a sudden relevance.
The catcher's cleats hit the ascending tip
of the diamond. He threw back his mask:
"You got this."
"I know I got this."
"Just throw how you normally throw."
"I know. I will. I know."
"You know what to do. Let's do this."
"I got this. I got this."
Then something was said
From the catcher to the pitcher
Not even the poet's ears were privy to.
Anyway,
Catcher ran back
Behind the diamond
And squatted, throwing out
His target glove with a deft pause
So not to tip the batter off.
The next pitch was a swinging strike
High up in the zone.
The pitch after that was a home run
Caught by a nun
Out on Yawkey Way.
Oh well, there's always the next day.
By the way,
She blessed the ball
And gave it away.
Categories:
ballfield, baseball,
Form: Free verse
There was a beach
Where Sandy would teach
The children how to swim
There was a ballfield
Where Blondie revealed
His secrets for hitting a ball
There was a library
Where Cynthia was the lady
Who helped you find books to read
There was an ice cream stand
Where the Sawyer clan
Sweetened your summer evenings
There was a set of tracks
Where we would make pennies flat
Then skip them across the river
There was a Rexall store
Where you could score
A milkshake that would make you sing
There was a mountain
Where the folks who do the counting
Proclaim it, most climbed one in the land
There were several cemeteries
Where each one’s preferred seminary
Kept separated the dead and the living
There were parades and jubilees
Where the whole community
Would celebrate life for a while
There is a small town
Where my roots can be found
Firmly planted in American soil
Categories:
ballfield, baseball, beach, books, celebration,
Form: Free verse
Lined up like third-graders
on the fence of a deserted ballfield
after a week of Indian summer –
cast-off sweaters, mittens, coats.
From a treetop, birds recite
the morning lesson.
Categories:
ballfield, childhood
Form: Free verse
A ritual which marks
the days
of our democracy
Sun shining
thousands of
fans cheering
The sight of a green ballfield delights the senses!
The scoreboard shows who's winning and who
is going down to defeat
PLAY BALL!
Categories:
ballfield, on work and working,
Form: Blank verse