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Public Poetry, Kevin Walzer's meditations on poetry, publishing, business, and other creative pursuits
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Kevin Walzer, a poet, poetry publisher, husband, and father.
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Mon, 03 Mar 2008
Book of the Day: Sort of Gone by Sarah Freligh
Sarah Freligh's Sort of Gone is a dynamic narrative about men pursuing their dreams of playing professional baseball. Using varying techniques and voices, Freligh presents a rich portrait of these players' hardscrabble lives.
A good example is "The Wages of Sin in Western New York":
The Wages of Sin in Western New York
Fourth of July a tornado crashes
parties, backyard picnics, tosses ten
houses a dozen miles north, plants them
in a farmer's field. A warning
God's running out of patience,
says the parish priest, prompting
a parade of people to drive out after mass
to witness just what He has wrought.
Al finds a pair of sneakers that exactly
fit his feet, a catcher's mitt, nearly new,
a birthday card signed Marge and Greg,
a baby doll without its head. Wonders
what Marge did, or Greg, to piss off God,
make Him stir the air with His index finger,
twist the wind so it blew their lives
to kingdom come. What could He
do now to Al, his family, snug in their Chevy,
a blue bead in the rosary of cars strung
bumper to bumper in both directions,
do to them when they bend
to say grace over Sunday dinner?
Suppose there's a heavenly blackboard
somewhere bearing their names, a blizzard
of chalk marks tallied by angels
waiting to give the high sign to Him
that they've run out of chances, time
for a natural disaster to show who's boss.
Afterward would some small boy sift
through the rubble, think about
the wages of sin? Or would he test
the leather of a catcher's mitt, think
finder's keepers, loser's weepers?
No romantic illusions here, the quest of these players still has its own kind of grace.