wrestling with shadows in poetry

back in the Negro Leagues
in the Twenties and Thirties
this was way before aerobics
this was way before Jane Fonda
they’d warm up by playing ball
without any equipment at all

with bats that weren’t there
with gloves that weren’t there
with balls that weren’t there
and yes, it partly was financial
for those separate-but better-than-equals
striking out Yankees on barnstorming tours
fall after fall in recurring exhibition sequels
but those games didn’t count in the papers
just in the minds of so-called world champs
in the darks of their nights before sleeping
in the record books no one was keeping
and yes the money was tight, night-to-night
saving a few bucks on practice equipment
made a difference but it was more than that

because the crowds ate it up
because it looked just like the real thing
the real thing except somehow even better
invisible fast balls going a-hundred-and-ten
invisible sky-shots to the warning track
invisible dive-catches against the walls
invisible game and invisible everything
they called it “shadow-ball”

some will say this is what they had to do
because they were never allowed to play
on an evened field with the “greats” and
on a certain level, of course, that’s true
but there is also a brighter side more
the shadows as no mere metaphor
let us consider instead the exhibited fact that
not even Babe Ruth could really touch them
consider how far above they were over those
separated-out “major league” cheats
only shadows could ever hope to compete
so, they wrestled their only true equals:
the men in their very own cleats

Last updated November 22, 2022