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Something I Could Tell You about Love
by
Edwin Romond


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The soft smack of pitches from my father
who's never cared for baseball, and never asks
about my Yankees. He doesn't want a glove,
just lets my hardball disappear into his hands
already sore from steering his truck without AC
or radio through the streets of Newark and Elizabeth.
My father, whose shirt's glued with sweat,
knows drums and crates must be loaded tonight
but still he stands and throws to me across the hood
of his '53 Ford sagging with freight he'll have to carry
tomorrow into stores and warehouses. Tonight
I pound the Rawlings glove he bought me
and watch his face grow dim in the dark of our yard,
then the white ball from his hands into the August heat.
I'm playing catch with my father, who's never liked baseball,
who nods when I ask for five minutes more.


From Home Team: Poems about Baseball (Grayson Books, 2018).
Used here with permission.

 

 


Edwin Romond  is a poet, playwright, and composer. Now retired, he taught English for more than 30 years in Wisconsin and New Jersey. Edwin's award-winning work has appeared in numerous literary journals, college text books, and anthologies, and has been featured on National Public Radio. His newest collection, Man at the Railing, from NYQ Books, recently won the Laura Boss Narrative Poetry Award. A native of Woodbridge, New Jersey, Edwin now lives in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania, with his wife. Learn more about him at www.edwinromond.com.

        

 

 


Post New Comment:
Anastasia:
What a wonderful memory of a wonderful father!
Posted 10/17/2020 05:52 PM
Jancan:
The world needs more fathers like the one so movingly described in this fine poem.
Posted 08/08/2020 01:16 PM
Lori Levy:
Perfect title for what you express so beautifully in this poem.
Posted 08/01/2020 11:20 PM
jmilfordtv:
Your beautifully expressed poem tells everything that is known about love. Thank you.
Posted 08/01/2020 09:09 PM
barbsteff:
Wonderful tribute to a selfless father!
Posted 08/01/2020 03:57 PM
Ron Stewart:
Edwin, I would never have believed baseball and love would fit together in the same class but you have woven them seamlessly. A father�s love is one we all should cherish. Well done!
Posted 08/01/2020 02:04 PM
Jccjccac@aol.com:
Your words brought my dad back to life as I read them. Thanks for that gift.
Posted 08/01/2020 12:58 PM
DELINDMAN:
Great example of good poetry and of parental love returned by the son who first received it.
Posted 08/01/2020 12:38 PM
Pat Brisson:
Those last two lines brought tears to my eyes. Beautiful!
Posted 08/01/2020 10:41 AM
Sharon Waller Knutson:
Wonderful poem. Throwing a baseball is love.
Posted 08/01/2020 09:48 AM
Jean Colonomos-1:
Here, here for the tired fathers who not matter how tired they are, make time for their kids.
Posted 08/01/2020 09:21 AM
Larry Schug:
Silence often speaks the loudest, action speaks for words. Frustrating and not understandable for many women though men of a certain age were brought up to communicate in this manner. There is real love in these words.
Posted 08/01/2020 08:40 AM
Gilbert Allen:
I enjoyed reading this gentle, heartfelt poem.
Posted 08/01/2020 08:36 AM
mail@schoolbusmart.com:
The love of a patent, in this case a father, can be so amazing, and in retrospect so awe-inspiring. Nice piece. Randy
Posted 08/01/2020 08:25 AM


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