"I Have Been Given a Baseball ... "
Click here to listen to Alan Michael Parker read this poem.
emblazoned with a map of the New York City subways,
a novelty item complete with the violet
No. 7 line, the train that clatters out to Shea.
Too often in the '70s in the rain
I saw the Mets lose there,
among anonymous fans
under orange and blue umbrellas
or the occasional grocery bag.
There's a woman I know now
whose son has died:
she should have the ball.
In the stadium this evening
the anonymous fans are hiding
under orange and blue umbrellas
or the occasional grocery bag,
and I can see her son
happy there, at last,
fidgety in the bleachers.
The lights light up the field
perfectly in the buggy, humid night—
it's like being inside a pretty thought.
When the small, sodden crowd—
are they angels?—
begins to chant Let's Go Mets,
someone changes the chant to Let's Go Home.
Alan Michael Parker's five collections of poems include the forthcomingElephants & Butterflies. He teaches at Davidson College and in the Queens University low-residency M.F.A. program.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPoetry SubmissionsSlate reads new poems from Oct. 1 to April 30. Manuscripts sent between May 1 and Sept. 30 will not be considered.To submit poems: Send, as a single attached document, up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each to editors@slatepoems.com. Use the poet's name for the subject line of the e-mail and for the title of the attachment. We prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx) to PDFs.Please include a brief, professional cover letter, including publication history, in the body of your email. Please limit submissions to one per poet per annual reading period. Simultaneous submissions are OK. Slate no longer accepts poetry submissions by mail. The email address editors@slatepoems.com is for poetry submissions only (or to notify editors of acceptance elsewhere of a poem under consideration at Slate). Other inquiries, etc., will not be addressed.10000false220061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM63271989937000000020061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM632719899370000000.Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.Click here for an archive of "Poet's Choice" columns from the Washington Post.