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〔𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘛.:〕
▪︎ Likely submitted to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 #𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘳 alongside #poems —shoddy #writing in my 'early days'!—"Desolation", "The I Inside", "Deserted", "Weathering", "Existence" (later retitled "Easy Noumenon"), + three extra #untitled poems ( #vilanelle, #prose poem, + single-stanza 'micro-poem'.)
〔𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘛.⤵️〕

This isn't the piece I set out to write....
But it's the one that bled out onto the page...
#penstricken #poetry #blueskypoet #vilanelle #rain
@penstricken.bsky.social

Text (poetry): A. A. Rubin Never Ever Walk the Leadoff Batter "Never ever walk the leadoff batter," Daddy explains as I watch my first game These are the things that really do matter. The high school playofts, I am the catcher— To the pitcher, my dad's words I declaim, "Never ever walk the leadoff batter." About the game we always could chatter; From other issues wed often refrain. These are the things that really do matter. The Sox, cursed, never won when it mattered. Hed yell at the screen and loudly exclaim, "Never ever walk the leadoff batter!" Dad died in '03, they won the year after— Elation! It (nearly) covered the pain. These are the things that really do matter. Up in the stands, I pass on to my daughter, And to my son who bears Daddy's name, "Never, ever walk the leadoff batter." These are the things that really do matter.

The cover of the Spring 2024 issue of Spitball Magazine. (No 94) a baseball player, wearing a batting helmet, screaming. Gray border.

My #vilanelle Never Ever Walk The Leadoff batter, a #poem about #baseball and my father, was published in Spitball last spring. Here it is, in honor of #OpeningDay.

#mlb #baseballisback #poeteycommunity #formalpoetry #mlbopeningday