Of the world without coming
To much decision about anything.
The sun seemed too hot most of the time.
There weren't enough birds around
And the hills had a silly look
When he got on top of one.
The girls in heaven, however, thought
Nothing of asking to see his watch
Like you would want someone to tell
A joke - "Time,"they'd say, "what's
That mean - Time?", laughing with the edges
Of their white mouths, like a flutter of paper
In a madhouse. And he'd stumble over
General Sherman or Elizabeth B.
Browning, muttering, "Can't you keep
Your big wings out of the aisle?" But down
Again, there'd be millions of people without
Enough to eat and men with guns just
Standing there shooting each other.
So he wanted to throw something
And he picked up a baseball.
by Kenneth Patchen
1 comment:
Internesting. I'm a little confused about the events in the latter half of the poem but it makes the poem a lot more interesting. Maybe it's his vision of heaven as containing annoying, giggling girl angels and dead people who just trip him up in his Earthly pursuits. Things that are idealized and are above all the crap in his version of the world. I like the idea that baseball was invented from the frustrations of a man-child (frustrations of others suffering while heaven is stupid, careless and laughs) who just wanted to throw something. :) Some days I completely understand where he's coming from.
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