Play-by-Play
Play-by-Play
Robert Manaster
On TV they talk of hard-cut
sliders that should’ve been
called strikes, the about-to-be-great
players, and dinner at Lou Malnati’s
the night before.
On his loveseat this evening—
his job’s Newly Weds Foods monthly check and balance sheets
on his lap—he dozes off.
Hours later it thunders.
The walls quivering, he wakes
to some black and white romance
playing on his TV
as a vague dream
of rounding third
to score
eases out
of his mind like seasonal rain.
Robert Manaster‘s poetry has appeared in numerous journals including Birmingham Poetry Review, Aethlon, Maine Review, Sport Literate, and Rhino. He’s also published poetry book reviews in such publications as The Rumpus, Colorado Review, and North American Review.
Jeff Brain is a San Francisco-based baseball artist and poet. He was a featured poet at the first two National Baseball Poetry Festivals, and now serves on the Poets Committee of the NBPF held each May in Worcester, MA.
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