When Heroes Walked the Earth
When Heroes Walked the Earth
Stephen Turner
To one another, friends and I may say,
“Remember Smoky Burgess, catcher for
That ’60 Pirate team that beat the Yanks
In seven games? Whatever became of him?
Or someone asks, “Is Mickey Mantle dead?”
And someone else replies, “The Mick is dead,
His teammate Maris, too.” They’re gone, all gone.
Those golden lads are dying every day,
The gods and demi-gods, the childhood heroes
Who bestrode our fervid dreams; some die alone,
And some, like Ruth or Gehrig, in those old films
Will breathe their next to last to cheering crowds.
Clemente died so long ago his grace
Is nearly unremembered now. And Musial,
Aaron, Colavito, Adcock, Koufax.
What names live on in memory’s dusty bin?
What names to conjure images of men?
Who moved not as mortals do, but still were men,
Who bit the dust like heroes did outside
Troy’s walls. Hector, Diomedes, Ajax.
Even brave Achilles with his anger.
Stephen Turner was born in southern Indiana shortly after the end of World War II. His father was an avid baseball fan who drove the family the 105 miles to Cincinnati several times each summer to take in Redlegs games. (In those pre-Interstate days, the 105 miles took about 3 hours. And, yes, they were the Redlegs in those Red Scare days.) His father always got tickets for double-headers because—why drive all that way for just one game? Stephen played baseball, basketball, and football through high school and college, and remains a big baseball and football fan. He taught English and American literature as well as composition at various colleges and universities for 49 years. He has been married to the same woman for 54 years, and they have two children and three grandchildren. He has published numerous poems, short stories, essays, and newspaper articles as well as two juvenile nonfiction books (one on sports) and a single novel—All the Sad Goodbyes—based on his father’s experiences as a paratrooper during World War II.
Chet Parmar is a self-taught artist in his spare time, specializing in pencil, ink, and digital drawing styles. A Bay Area native and San Francisco Giants fan, he hopes to watch a game at every MLB stadium during his lifetime (6 down so far). You can find his work on Instagram: @chubbycheetah80
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