7th Game: 1960 Series

 Nice day,

sweet October afternoon

Men walk the sun-shot avenues,

                                                     Second, Third, eyes

                                                     intent elsewhere

ears communing with transistors in shirt pockets

                                    Bars are full, quiet,

discussion during commercials

                                                      only

Pirates lead New York 4-1, top of the 6th, 2

Yankees on base,    1 man out

 

What a nice day for all this!

Handsome women, even

dreamy jailbait, walk

                                      nearly neglected:

men’s eyes are blank

their thoughts are all in Pittsburgh

 

Last half of the 9th, the score tied 9-all,

Mazeroski leads off for the Pirates

The 2nd pitch he simply, sweetly

                                                           CRACK!

belts it clean over the left-field wall

 

Blocks of afternoon

acres of afternoon

Pennsylvania Turnpikes of afternoon.  One

                                    diamond stretches out in the sun

                                                     the 3rd base line

                                    and what men come down

                                    it

 

                                    The final score, 10-9

 

Yanquis, come home

Paul Blackburn, The Selected Poems of Paul Blackburn (Persea Books, 1989)