Category: The Game Itself

by Stephen Jones

Everybody’s body does break down . . .
that comes with the territory . . . but
PEDs, steroids and HGH taken
in baseball, that’s an ever-long question.

Success, failure, performance on the field,
an athlete’s burden . . . bottom line and future
double-edged: Maintain home plate posture
. . . while avoiding prying exposure.

Fair or foul, the problem is difficult,
maybe like a knuckleball . . . is hard to hit
while easy to see.  Our own expectations
run high, are so demanding.  We expect,

perhaps media-fueled, perhaps more than
what is possible.  Each record immediate . . .
is just another instance, is just another
moment arbitrarily to be broken.