PARKS , FIELDS

"SRO Tickets / We Go Up At Dusk"

You and I,
climbing stadium lights
Redirect upon unsuspecting
fans and flood concourses,
recasting players as absences
of their focal status

Angels conspiring above
levels untelevised
Checkered green gone
dark; LED boards re-
play flies dropped
Revised invert park

Whereas winds flatten
balls arcs or carry drives
out, we float
For innings top
and bottom

A kiss cam couldn't pre-plan
or pivot to show the moment
Big league chew between
two sets of lips as we conduct
an exhibit of couples we make
under the duress of towered lamps

Jumbotron and perched cameramen
look on to the vignetted love
we create: true cupid aim turning
guests in jerseys gay or straight

Spires of scaffolding we ascend
Wont to come down in blowouts
or when play compels us to relight
the stage Or when ghost runners
ruin the fun and we jump, disgusted

"Play by play"

Stream your boys on any screen
who get to touch when choreography
kicks in
Gloves contract in sync with lungs
In HD, stats swarm scorebugs

Speakers sit in hats that relay
sequence
Dispassionate graphic designers
churn out loud alternates
The devout wearing them cheer on
slow approaches
set to christian rock

Before electronic comms
catchers used to wear nail polish
Androstenedione is too easy to detect
A sweat-coated ball has more grip
its rotations per minute swelled by
stress hormones

Bats are tarred or sprayed for torque
Axe handles, knob decals and pattered tape
decorate every prorated day
Motion capture attachments are banned in-game
Scouts, hidden, traffic in opinion as data

Sleeve patches give notices of deaths
Lives expressed through epochal numbers
Obituaries dating passings are bookended
by incitements to parlay bets

"How Timmy
Waltzed to me"

Reared back to
bear down on
hitters late
his crowns came
back-to-back
late men waved
helplessly
vulcan change
ninety eight
on the gun
darting eyes
hips he flung
on fifth days
teaching his
video
game self to
pitch for 2-
K ad spots
twice he did
everything
without much
hate just a
stonery
at work face
compared to
hurlers who
he would not
immitate
who grunted
fumed wisdom
he could speak
without speech
laced in his
golden cleats

INDEX

1. 6/24/2017–Mets@Giants
2. 4/18/2015–Mariners@A's
3. 7/5/2019–Cardinals@Giants
4. 7/9/2017–Pirates@Cubs
5. Date Unknown
6. 7/1-2/2017–Giants@Pirates
7. 9/26/2024–Orioles@Yankees
8-9. 9/4/2024–Blue Rocks@Cyclones
10-11. 7/1-2/2017–Giants@Pirates
12-13. 6/24/2017–Mets@Giants
14-15 6/28/2018–Dragons@Swallows
16-17. 6/22/2018–Carp@Tigers
18-21. 10/26/2024–Dodgers@Mets
22-24. 6/16-17/2018–Carp@Hawks
25. 6/22/2018–Carp@Tigers
26-29. 6/28/2018–Dragons@Swallows

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

12.

11.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

30-31. Date Unknown
32-33. 9/3/2024–Red Sox@Mets
34. 3/26/2018–A's@Giants
35. 9/26/2024–Orioles@Yankees
36. 7/5/2019–Cardinals@Giants
37. 4/18/2018–Mariners@A's
38. 6/24/2017–Mets@Giants