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The Kid

Posted: 16 May 2019, 21:13
by BobBradshaw
The Kid


I had a three year contract;
I was like a piling driven deep into rock.
I wasn’t going back to the minors:

I had an arm like a Napoleon cannon.
Still, the balls I was hitting
weren't cratering the bleachers,

and rumors of a phenom
with a wisp of down on his upper lip
were circulating.

Some nights in Double A
The Kid damaged the tower's lights
in deep left field like a thug

whaling a bat at a Buick’s headlights.
My batting average started to dip
like a slack rope.

Balls that once leaped off my bat died
like sponge balls in a downpour.
The Kid was called up.

Don’t worry. You’ll be our center fielder
for the next decade, the coach
assured me, in private.

The Kid threw tantrums
like he had studied them on film,
highlights of two year olds in malls,

when an umpire called him out on strikes.
He also peppered the left field roof with homers,
even the pigeons nodding approval.

More and more he was roaming
the patch of bluegrass in center,
and by August I was riding the bench.

Everyone reaches the end
the manager said as he pulled me into his office.
"But playing ball is the only thing I do well,"

I pleaded. He wasn’t listening.
He was looking at The Kid
swinging lumber in the on deck circle.

The pigeons in left field, nervous,
were already flying off, frightened
of another afternoon hailstorm,
The Kid about to step
to the plate.

Re: The Kid

Posted: 16 May 2019, 21:40
by Kenneth2816
Very good read. Rings true

Re: The Kid

Posted: 16 May 2019, 22:03
by SivaRamanathan
Manages to hold the interest till the very end.

Re: The Kid

Posted: 16 May 2019, 22:46
by BobBradshaw
Kenneth, Siva -- thank you. Glad you liked it.

Re: The Kid

Posted: 17 May 2019, 04:19
by Michael (MV)
Hi Bob,

engaging story-telling poem

the figurative language is accessible
yet fresh

and simile is the figurative of choice here for the persona & voice here

the early years of Marlon Brando:

"I could have been a contender"

😎

Michael (MV)

Re: The Kid

Posted: 17 May 2019, 06:13
by BobBradshaw
LOL.... love the Brando quote!

Re: The Kid

Posted: 17 May 2019, 10:18
by FranktheFrank
A great deal of information, detailed about the sport.
I know so little of baseball, only what I see from film,
but it is educational I just wish I knew the finer
points. Well done.