Poetry Sunday: Analysis of Baseball by May Swenson

As September fades into October, our thoughts turn to...baseball. Well, truthfully, for some of us, our thoughts have been on baseball for the last six months. Those were fun times, but now it gets serious.

 It's been a remarkable season for my favorite team, the Houston Astros. They've set a new club record for wins and several of the players have set individual records of various kinds. In addition to all that, they are just a fun team to watch. For those of us who suffered through those years of 100+ losses, the last three seasons of 100+ wins have been sweet indeed.

 And now we come to the playoffs where anything can happen and usually does and all of those 100+ wins mean nothing. Or at least very little. Baseball is a game where yesterday's hero can be today's goat and vice versa. But there is always another game tomorrow, a chance for redemption. Until there isn't.

 May Swenson understood.

 Analysis of Baseball

 by May Swenson

It's about
the ball,
the bat,
and the mitt.
Ball hits
bat, or it
hits mitt.
Bat doesn't
hit ball, bat
meets it.
Ball bounces
off bat, flies
air, or thuds
ground (dud)
or it
fits mitt.

Bat waits
for ball
to mate.
Ball hates
to take bat's
bait. Ball
flirts, bat's
late, don't
keep the date.
Ball goes in
(thwack) to mitt,
and goes out
(thwack) back
to mitt.

Ball fits
mitt, but
not all
the time.
Sometimes
ball gets hit
(pow) when bat
meets it,
and sails
to a place
where mitt
has to quit
in disgrace.
That's about
the bases
loaded,
about 40,000
fans exploded.

It's about
the ball,
the bat,
the mitt,
the bases
and the fans.
It's done
on a diamond,
and for fun.
It's about
home, and it's
about run.

Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,September 29, 2019 at 4:41 AM

    As a kid I played sports quite a bit, but I have never really been interested in watching it, and the obscene salaries some of these guys make to hit a ball with a stick makes me want to puke.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersSeptember 29, 2019 at 10:00 AM

      I really don't resent the salaries of professional baseball players. Most of them have a relatively short shelf life and, from what I see of the work they do both on the field and in the community, they earn it.

      Delete
  2. AlanaSeptember 30, 2019 at 5:19 AM

    That was such a fun poem. I used to love baseball (watching it; I wasn't any good at either baseball or softball) growing up but lost interest in my early 20's.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersSeptember 30, 2019 at 10:22 AM

      I have loved it since I was twelve years old. There have been periods when I was less avid, but since living in Houston, I've become a diehard Astros fan!

      Delete
  3. Judy KruegerOctober 5, 2019 at 11:47 AM

    Proof that poetry can be about anything!

    ReplyDelete
  4. betty-NZOctober 10, 2019 at 12:58 AM

    Love it! It certainly made me smile :)


    My Corner of the World

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 10, 2019 at 10:15 AM

      That's one of the reasons I like it. Also, it is a very succinct - and accurate - analysis of baseball!

      Delete

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