When the tall puffy
figure wearing number
nine starts
late for the fly ball,
laboring forward
like a lame truckhorse
startled by a gartersnake,
--this old fellow
whose body we remember
as sleek and nervous
as a filly's--
figure wearing number
nine starts
late for the fly ball,
laboring forward
like a lame truckhorse
startled by a gartersnake,
--this old fellow
whose body we remember
as sleek and nervous
as a filly's--
and barely catches it
in his glove's
tip, we rise
and applaud weeping:
On a green field
we observe the ruin
of even the bravest
body, as Odysseus
wept to glimpse
among shades the shadow
of Achilles.
Donald Hall
"Old Timers' Day"
I love Donald Hall.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for aging, is he saying expectations are lower for us, who are? :)
Me, too, Ruth. I think what he's saying is that memory and empathy are stronger than reality. Thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteDonald Hall is one of my favorites. I love to hear him reading his own work. He's so charismatic.
ReplyDelete