Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud

Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud

Mark Dunbar

If you go, keep it on the down low,
but take your shovel, your boots and buckets
to the reliquary—that secret place
along the Delaware tributary
where Lena Blackburne fished
and sunk his hands in the sticky clay
that now smudges every fingertip
and bat barrel in the Major Leagues,
that proprietary rubbing mud,
stew of feldspars and calcium carbonate,
the ratio of which you’re free to debate,
better still than tobacco juice or spit
or any tacky-ball prototype,
tubs of sand-studded pudding, the perfect grip
that umpires and sometimes clubhouse guys rub
into the factory gloss, pure white slick
as polyester, an invitation to the errant pitch
and threat to every batter
facing four seamers up and in.
Ask Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians.

Mark Dunbar lives in Brookfield, Il. His work has appeared in Red Rock Review, Rogue Agent, Corvus Review, Bicoastal Review, and the Ekphrastic Review, among others. He attended Kenyon College where he was the recipient of the American Academy of Poets Award.

Michael C. Paul is an illustrator, writer, and historian. He grew up outside of Kansas City, has moved around a bit over the years working as a history professor, illustrator, and occasionally an editorial cartoonist, and now lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and daughter. For more, visit https://mikepaulart.com or @MikePaulArt.

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