Saturday, October 22, 2011

In Which T.S. Eliot Takes the Field




by Bob Stanley






Tom was left-handed

so they put him at first base

not realizing he was right-brained.

In the second inning

when a ground ball found his glove

surprised, he cried

Let us go then, you and I

to the ball,

and in the lamplight

(it was a night-game)

he stepped on the bag for the out.

“Four Quartets”

we realize now

is not about the Upanishads

or Catholic imagery,

it’s about

the four bases of

the diamond:

how we hit, run, slide,

score &

steal,

as if we could stop time

and always be absolved

so that even victory becomes painful

on so many levels:

in my big inning is my end.

It’s about baseball,

which the Midwest transplant sorely missed

as a bank teller in London;

he missed the feel of dirt

sweeping his glove along the ground

and the chance

to pluck the fast moving ball

with a snap of his wrist.

April was a cruel month, indeed

since the Cardinals

were looking good that year.


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