Poetry
'let's call this'
| SEE ALSO |
| More Poetry Stories |
The Last Poet (9/1/2010) Holding court (7/14/2010) Demolition derby (5/19/2010) |
| More from John Sinclair |
War (on drugs) is over (9/29/2010) Reprise (6/9/2004) 'It’s All Good' (8/13/2003) |
"let's call this" for Jayne Cortez
baseball, poetry, &
rhythm & blues—
& all three
in one most
glorious day,
april 15, 1982—
let's call this
opening day,
like the sky
opened up & grinned
all over detroit
& at the shrine
of truth & beauty
at michigan & trumbull
even the tigers came thru
4 to 2
over toronto
& at the detroit
institute of arts
jayne cortez
made the scene
with her crazy
poetry-
making machine
& to top it off,
making his first
detroit appearance
in recorded memory,
the pride
of orange, texas,
ladies &
gentlemen, that mighty
man of music, mister
clarence
"gatemouth"
brown!
so let's call this a
perfect
day then, & please
please, please,
i'm down on my knees
begging for more—
80 more
home games to go, &
let the hits just
keep on coming
day after day
for the rest of the year!
—Detroit, April 17, 1982
Avant-activist, pot proponent, former White Panther, former MC5 manager, jazz writer, poet, yeah, yeah, yeah. But not everyone knows John Sinclair as baseball guy: "You might say that the poem is from the Detroit Life album. I remain an avid Tigers fan, intend to take my granddaughter to some games while I'm here, and hope for a World Series victory for Jim Leyland & the Tigers in 2010!"
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