The Coming of the Toads

A Notebook – Since 2007

Tag: Sailing

  • By the Beautiful Sea

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
  • 
		
		
    
			
			
    Postcard
    
			
    

    You awake to find yourself in a room the size of a postcard. There is a photo of a pier, people out walking, a boardwalk, a sunny day, blue sky. A bit of a breeze apparently, the women holding their hats, summer dresses flapping, legs akimbo like listing masts, offshore sand flurries. In the distance, atop a shoreline cliff, an ivory tower climbs into the sky like a long slender neck. At the top of the tower, a balcony necklace affords rich views of the ocean, a woman in a blue dress at the wrought iron rail studying a sailboat, a  small dinghy, its jib open and full of the onshore breeze, coming in.
    




    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
  • 
		
		
    
			
			
    The Bad Hop Boat Poem
    
			
    













    














    

    
You watch













    

    
Baseball













    

    
and recall













    

    
the hit













    

    
that took a bad hop,









    

    
bebopping













    

    
between your legs










    

    
like a line













    

    
impossible













    

    
to scan,













    

    
bouncing













    

    
over your glove











    

    
touching













    

    
the dirt.













    

    














    

    
No one is listening.










    

    
Even the umpire











    

    
shook his head.











    

    
“Shake it off,”












    

    
Coach called













    

    
from the critical











    

    
dugout.













    

    
“Bad hop,”













    

    
the gracious













    

    
pitcher said.













    

    














    

    
But no, even now











    

    
you can not













    

    
accept the excuse,










    

    
because you










    

    
fear the ball













    

    
& the poem,










    

    
as you explain:











    

    
“I was thinking




t
i
l
l
e
r

    

    
of a boat





f





 u

    

    
on the high




o






d

    

    
C’s.”



l







 d

    

    



A








e

    

    
Infield poem


b








 r  u  n

    

    
error full


o



w






    

    
confuses


v


o







    

    
a boat with
t
h
e

b
a
l
l





    

    









o




    

    
 “E6,” says
C
C

C

C
C
w
C
critic.

    

    


C

C

C

C
C

C

    

    

C
C

C

C
C

C


    

    


C

C

C

C
C

C

    

    

C
C

C

C
C

C