The Conflicts of Dick Allen (A Villanelle)

by Patrick Dubuque

We’re taught the game is played a certain way;
That men should bunt and strike out reverently
There really isn’t much else left to say.

In Little Rock, they welcomed him with spray
A sullen, stinging, whitewashed reverie.
We’re taught the game is played a certain way.

When one man swung his bat and struck him, they
Bestowed on him the culpability.
There really isn’t much else left to say.

He scratched October Second in the clay
Where local fans had once flung batteries
We’re taught the game, to play a certain way

And despite his prodigious, powerful display
Battling loneliness, rage, misery
There really isn’t much else left to say.

And so Dick Allen scowled as he played.
And so old men wrote their history.
We’re taught the game is played a certain way.
There really isn’t much else left to say.

Patrick Dubuque is the head honcho at the blog The Playful Utopia, which you all should start reading.

0 Replies to “The Conflicts of Dick Allen (A Villanelle)”

  1. Glad you found us! We post through the regular season, then pick up again in Spring Training. Hope you’ll follow us, here and/or on Facebook.

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