(1) Write a "dare" poem, and
(2) Write a palinode.
I used two poems and wrote palinodes for them. The first one is really more of an "opposite" to my Day 1 poem, "Pull":
Push
You are not
irresistable.
You are not dark
chocolate,
popcorn or bacon, a
fresh Jersey tomato,
or a walk-off homer in
the bottom of the ninth.
You are not the Beatles
or cute baby photos,
and you are certainly
not Celtic jigs,
Scarlett Johannson or a
sunny spring day.
I am also positive you
are not a morning walk
or binge-watching House of Cards.
And I am fairly
confident you are not
a Labrador puppy, a
butterfly, or NFL football.
Unlike those other
things, I push you off
like a magnet trying to
touch the same pole.
I dare you - try to get through
my field.
The second poem is a sort of coda to one I wrote a few years ago, "Nine Innings" (published in the baseball journal Spitball). It is a poem of nine stanzas, each with nine lines, each of which has nine syllables - the form was invented by fellow baseball fan Donald Hall. The original poem is an autobiographical take on my life as a Phillies fan, which ended with the Phillies winning the 2008 World Series. This sequel, as it were, is not so optimistic.
Tenth Inning
Overtime, sudden death, advantage
for the home team. But ours has grown old -
veterans who won the
Series years
ago. Time to rebuild,
the GM
says. Aging stars will
go to pasture
while new kids, green and clumsy, try to
fill big shoes. It will be a long year and
a longer decade. Come on, team,
I dare you - hit a walk-off homer.
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