by Susanna Rich
knows dirt makes the game—
clay makes firms footing;
sand perfects bounce.
The ballpark may crumble,
yet, the last morning of the last game,
the groundskeeper tends the grass,
edges lip build-up, and leaves.
He is the here that isn’t here,
maker of what must grow or not
around our mound of dust.
His field is our mother—each
winding up is promise—and hope.
Susanna wrote and narrated this poem for “Cobb Field: A Day at the Ballpark,” Craig Lindvahl’s documentary, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. The film can frequently be seen on the MLB Network. Susanna has been published numerous times in Spitball and read frequently at the Yoga Berra Museum at Montclair State University in New Jersey.