the Players

the Players

in the dark of night

Yankee Stadium allows

a distant glow

a cheer or two

fans leaving

traffic ensues

taxis scream

red and blue lights flash

a bat swings

dead fan

picked up by street cleaners

the morning after

a loss

another pin striped habit

the glow dims

there will be sunrise

there will be silence

a baseball diamond

cut improperly

the value diminished

empty seats

fans escaping

the demolition

of glorious history

like wars with retreating soldiers

wounded, limping

loss of heart

loss of purpose

empathetic to countries

who have come out of the game defeated

are the losses worth the fight

or a message to the staff

in war no one wins

it's just sudden death.

erin-cilberto

8/21/22

Reviews

[Andrew John]

Bigger stuff than just baseball, but also, of course, about baseball. It's a gripping piece, J. Thanks

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Andrew,
j.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

I love baseball, but it never comes first to all the tragedy in the world.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

absolutely true.

[Lisasview]

Hi Jacob,
Reading this I just can not think that your words are metaphors for bigger things...
Of course I can just look at your poem as a poem about baseball...but I really do not think it is.
I really enjoyed the read... So clever..
Just on a side note my son~in~law played for the majors and was in the World Series..long career..17 years..
Lisa, in Spain

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, bigger things but also smaller things...
thank you for your words, Lisa.
j.

[Lisasview]

Well, I guess I should have said also smaller things as that makes perfect sense.
Lisa

[Nima.Hope]

I've never been to America. This country has very unique sports like American . I lived many years in Iran and the way you described the atmosphere around Yankee Stadium is the same when It comes to derby in Tehran's Azadi Stadium.
I don't enjoy going stadiums cause mostly everyone is shouting and the huge crowd is on my nerve. I mostly prefer Theatre or Classical music concerts. I guess no audience is winner in an stadium at the end of the game.
I enjoyed the last 4 lines very much.
Nima

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Nima for sharing this...and now, at my age...I stay away from crowds as well.
j.

[Nima.Hope]

You're welcome my friend. I wanted to say that America has unique sports like American "Football".read moreYou're welcome my friend. I wanted to say that America has unique sports like American "Football".
The "Football" was missed in my comment.

[John the Baptist]

One wonders if this one refers to the real Yankee Stadium or uses that storied coliseum as a metaphor. The dead fan may suggest that all was not as glorious as it seemed. That such glory is fading may indicate the values of a previous time are now changing. The last stanzas suggest the stadium may stand for the country as a whole, with its failed recent wars. Perhaps the whole work is basically an anti-war message.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, and yes.
quite a comprehensive view and so accurate. allegorical
thank you, John,
j.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

I’ve always loved the movie field of dreams
Baseball as you would very well know is hugely bigger in USA than here in oz
However at school we played softball in primary and high back in sixties seventies
I loved your poem was it referring to a murder or someone collapsing in the game I’d love to know the back ground idea
Great write ✍️ Jacob

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes....could be correct on all counts, Julie.
Did you enjoy softball? what position did you play?

[Julie McCarthy (juliespenhere)]

Just one of bases I can’t recall I was not good my forte was netball or basketball

[Betty Hermelee]

Someone dies every mini-second in our country....by the left, by the right, by extremists.... and nobody notices, just another body... echoes of sirens.....too many deaths to count....as in war, "no one wins,it's just sudden death".... another anonymous body.....and, at Yankee Stadium no less, my dad's second home!!! this is excellent!
Best, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

God, I loved that team...we lived 2.5 miles from the Stadium in the fifties...the house that Ruth built...and for me, the Mick...
My uncle bowled in a league at the Rizzuto/Berra Bowl in Belleville, NJ....and one year, bowled on the same team with Moose Skowran, Gil McDougald and Yogi Berra....I never got to talk to him about that....didn't find out until my cousin Mike told me....My uncle was gone by then...but what a thrill it was for me to hear that....back in those days the players were just regular guys.
a real field of dreams...but yes, things got rough around that ball park...became a war zone...
thank you, Betty...for sharing that about your dad.
My dad saw Ruth play at the Stadium, but he only ever talked about Jolting Joe....
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

I went frequently with my dad, but I think I liked the hot dogs the best; until his death, he was a keen Yankee fan!

[Karen]

I absolutely love the juxtaposition of life experiences and sorrows with a baseball game. Excellent writing!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your understanding, Karen,
j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I revisited your pages...your poems are so good, so palpable...and yet...so untouched...I just don't get it at all, this place really baffles me sometimes...the poets who should get much more attention and don't...

[Karen]

Thank you. When there are too many options, there's usually little attention to some and too much attention to others. It's the nature of readers... and of humanity as well.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

My oldest brother is an incurable baseball fanatic and a veteran of the Vietnam War. He'd probably love this poem. I've never been to a Major League game in all my life. I did go to a few triple A games with my oldest daughter when the "Hickory Crawdads" still had that rating. I think their sponsor team was the St. Louis Cardinals. I did listen to quite a few baseball games on my tiny AM transistor radio that I smuggled into my bed many nights as a young teen. It had an earphone of course so I could listen secretly to baseball games and to "A Prairie Home Companion" which had just been released on Minnesota Public Radio with Garrison Keillor. I enjoyed the read.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, I think the Crawdads was a farm team for the Cardinals...I went to sleep many nights listening to the games on my transistor until the batteries died. thank you for sharing that,
j.

[W. Barrett Munn]

This is sort of a, "If you build it, they will die," analogy that is quite effective and interesting, especially to anyone who in their youth (or still) spent a night in or near a major league baseball stadium. (Chavez Ravine for me.) The final line is killer good. Well done, Jacob.
W.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we lived 2.5 miles from the Stadium...on Sedgewick Avenue...in the fifties it was great to see games there...the original house that Ruth built.
and Chavez...Vin Sculley whom I listened to and watched on channel nine in NY when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.
Chavez is the third oldest park now, next to Fenway and Wrigley.
thank you for your kind words, Winston,
j.