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Lou Gehrig Day
by
Edwin Romond


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He was scared and did not
want to speak to 62,000 people.

Maybe he felt facing death
was enough to endure but

they kept calling his name
till he stepped up to the mic
 
and gave 278 words of thank you
and goodbye. His body trembled

as he spoke with the voice
of a dying man still strong enough

to unlock his heart before thousands
and let them all come in.


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:
Jo:
Thank you for this much needed poem today. It�s beautiful.
Posted 07/04/2019 10:55 PM
Tgruenewald:
Ed is a treasure. As usual he gets to the very heart of the matter directly and beautifully.
Posted 07/04/2019 12:15 PM
Don Colburn:
What a lift, Ed, to come upon this poem, this day. Thanks for, once again, getting it right, and letting all of us readers in.
Posted 07/04/2019 12:04 PM
Janet Leahy:
We need this poem today, thank you.
Posted 07/04/2019 11:24 AM
KevinArnold:
Finding and publishing this poem on Independence Day is part of the warp and the woof of Your Daily Poem. The poem does just what it intends to do and no more. The brilliance is in concentrating on the moment �they kept calling his name / til he stepped up to the mic� is the heart of one man�s life story. As pwax says, beautiful.
Posted 07/04/2019 08:50 AM
michael escoubas:
Simple, direct, clear. Powerful poetry, Ed. Thank you.
Posted 07/04/2019 08:46 AM
plgoodman:
Don�t we poets do exactly that? Lovely, Edwin. Thank you.
Posted 07/04/2019 08:43 AM
Gilbert Allen:
Eloquent and graceful. Well done!
Posted 07/04/2019 07:33 AM
Larry Schug:
A home run.
Posted 07/04/2019 06:59 AM
vscholtz:
Your image of that man, both physically and spiritually strong, is beautiful.
Posted 07/04/2019 06:02 AM
paula:
A wonderful poem; a good thing to remember
Posted 07/04/2019 05:37 AM


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