my radio

  

I use to own this transistor radio

with large silver knobs

and earphones that would

dangle

from a black

cord

so cool that Curtis

would lay his jealous  back

against the soft brick of the

church wall

where

we were throwing our

rubber ball for strikes

with rubber missing

as if eaten

off by a strangers

crazy son.

He died outside of Hanoi

in 72

and when

we visited

DC with the tallness

of capitals,

of polite

civilization's,

of small cherry blossomed trees

and long mini skirted w****s on

Vermont Ave,

I placed a sheet

of loose-leaf paper

against the stone

monument and

traced his name as if

capturing the brilliance

of his youth;

as if thinking of ourselves

then calling out the name

"Phil Niekro

when the ball came

at us slowed down

or leaping paradoxically

from some dark

un-beknown. The

older I get, the harder

it is to be in this body

and trace anything

above my shoulders.

An old rotator injury

I've carried of

sweet thoughts

and those 27 mph,

fiery fastballs.

Reviews

[wolfshrew]

The kind of well written that plays out in front of you as you read. The most effective. The most impressive.

[h d e rushin]

thank you my friend.

[Ed Hart]

what you do...is...you take us directly into your heart...never any dalliance over a cool phrase, just the full flow over the falls

[h d e rushin]

thanks Ed Hart.....just getting back in town from the new years....Back to 9 degrees and a
mines 7 degree wind chill...I keep asking myself, why am I still living in Michigan.......?lol

dana

[writing mojo]

You're so good at this muse appreciation even in America's past time, pitching no hitters knuckled up and never ego pleasing..just in it for the love of being one with game..excellent piece

[h d e rushin]

we shall be better in 2016 than in 2015..That is the process of learning and listening...thank you dear brother....dana

[Emily B]

oh, dana, if only we could capture the brilliance of their youth! I've lot two this year. I am tired of losing. Hoping the new year will be kinder

[h d e rushin]

if only we could go back....."Little child, take me back"/ I hope the new year is kinder to
all of us that the hate in 2015 did not already kill off.....dana

[Emily B]

I am hopeful

[W.k.kortas]

I remember saying either in a review or in a response to one of yours how the secret of Phil Niekro's success was to finally give himself wholly the caprice of the knuckleball. This is all, of course, easier said than done, and I suspect that generation of young men who went into Viet Nam probably knew a hell of a lot more about the coin-flip nature of fate than most of us (and here I am telling you this because?...) There is so much here--the wistful recognition of youth and its loss, the juxtaposition of the beautiful and the happy with what lurks in the shadowy margins of life (the lines mingling the cherry blossoms and the w****s of DC are pitch-perfect). This ranks with anything you've written.

[h d e rushin]

mention the name Phil Niekro and this image is conjured up from baseballs (American-history's) past about the magic of control and how hard it is to master the uncontrollable. Like thoughts of youth perhaps or any foreign, out of place image. Thank you my friend for that wonderful review.
And thank you for an out-of-this-world bag of observations......happy new years to you.....dana

[Ed Hart]

you are so good mr K, it's a pleasure to share this planet with you

[W.k.kortas]

I'm just glad the place is big enough (and still around) for both of us, old friend.

[M. Shepherd]

These short lines give off youthful puffs of energy as a child excitedly telling a story out of breath after running all the way home from school, yet it retains all the mature wisdom and graceful reflection of the years that have passed after that child became a woman. I wasn't even alive and I feel nostalgic reading this. Beautifully conveyed story.

[h d e rushin]

thank you Marcie, as wonderful as you are, for listening. For being patient. For and visiting me
read morethank you Marcie, as wonderful as you are, for listening. For being patient. For and visiting me
once again....Happy new years to you my friend....dana

[jacob erin-cilberto]

27 mile an hour fast balls..oh i know this poem...in Jersey bouncing the rubber balls off of the back of the apartments...the brick knocking pieces off the ball with each hit...sort of like memories now...that have parts missing as i bounce them off of my mind...
pretending to be Whitey Ford (Chairman of the Board) when i threw...

or throwing high balls off the walls pretending to be the Mick, hitting long fly balls.

and then having friends come home from nam, strangers, and i, wishing we had never grown up...and i still was 7 living in the Bronx...watching the speed boat races on the Harlem from the roof of our sedgewick avenue apartment.

those injuries from the sixties still hurt...even though the game was really on back then...and as it was, i listened to top 40 on my little mitsibushi radio...
you always send me somewhere i used to be.

j.

[h d e rushin]

Oh yeah, calling out the name "the Mick" when a long fly ball was hit. I'm not saying that the
old baseball stars were better than todays. I'm saying that the old stars in the universe were
better/ thank you my friend and happy new year to you.

dana

[Coyote Poetry]

I liked the thoughts and the memories shared in the poem. I understand the places you took me with. Being very old. I like to go back in time. The good days seemed better and the bad days seemed less painful. A good ending to the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[h d e rushin]

thank you Coyote Poetry for those kind remarks my friend....and yes, yesterday was so, so, so,
less painful......happy new year....dana

[Coyote Poetry]

Have a safe and happy New year and you are welcome.