by Barbara Gregorich
Now pales
beside Next.
Call waiting
beats call existing
.         every time.
Blue-star
free agents
glow brighter
than earthbound
team members
.         every time.
Never had
call waiting,
but if I did
I’d ignore it
.         every time.
I cheer
the team
that takes
the field —
and not the one
some baron’s
scheming.
.              Every time.
Barbara’s new book, Jack and Larry, chronicles the love affair between Cleveland slugger Jack Graney and Larry, the team’s American bull terrier mascot (the only live mascot ever used by a major league team) in verse form. Read more about it and order a copy here.
A multiplicity of meaning lies layered under the textures of those lines. “Some baron” brings to mind Jacob Ruppert and the “scheming” that brought Babe Ruth to New York from Boston; and the juxtaposition of the ancient with the modern (“call existing” v. “call waiting”) lends a sly, jocular tone to an otherwise serious subject. It’s all about appreciating what we have rather than what we think we should have.
What wonderful and thought-provoking poetry. Barbara Gregorich rules!
Wonderful poem, Barbara. I enjoyed it on my first reading, and then I read Perry’s comment and realized I had missed a great deal. Consequently, it was even more fun on my second reading. Thank you!