It’s not baseball season yet, but spring training is right around the corner, and I know you die-hard baseball fans are ready. So! Maybe I can get away with posting two poems on the same day (a Sunday to boot). If not, well, we’ll just call it a wild pitch!
Where Dreams Were Dreamed
And, he sluid into third base standin up!
A little late, but the throw went wild
And would ya listen to the crowd cheering
Ah, yes, playing sandlot baseball
Imagining the voice of Dizzy Dean
Or Pee Wee Reese calling out my name
As I rounded the bases
In the sandlots of old
Mindless chatter—hey batta hey batta
Suh-wing! Filling the air
Visions and sounds of cheering fans
Filled our young and hopeful minds
As the sun rose and set
On the vacant lots of our childhood
The fields where dreams were dreamed
Copyright © 2013 C Mashburn
Click here to view —>A Game Forgot, my previous baseball poem.
Sharing on dVerse Poets Pub’s Open Link Night #
joseph elon lillie said
We are waiting for the opening game here in Boston with baited breath. We Red Sox fans are die-hard even after an abysmal season like last year!
charlesmashburn said
I heard about ya! I was a die-hard Yankee fan when I was a kid, but I outgrew it.
catnipoflife said
Really good! I like it very much because it is America’s past! BTW I am sure you meant ‘slid’ in the first line… LOL:)
charlesmashburn said
Shirley you jest! Yer pullin my leg, right. What postion did I play? Why, left out of course! Pick me, pick me! DIzzy Dean was actually taken off the air for saying such things as sluid. Some teacher(s?) complained he was teaching us po chilluns bad grammer & such. Ain’t that a hoot?!?!
brian miller said
ha. i know it is spring when i can smell baseball…they will be starting up here soon…spring training…ah i love to go to that first game…also got me thinking…we used to use crushed coffee cans as bases…and the winning team recorded stats on the bottom in permanent marker…wonder where those are at….
charlesmashburn said
You had coffee cans?!?! Man! You must’ve growed up in the city! We used rocks!
Thanks, Brian!
marilyncavicchia said
Very vivid! I love the sounds, including the chatter and the bit from Dizzy Dean. I didn’t have the type of experience you describe, but I feel like I was there!
charlesmashburn said
Thank you for the wonderful comment, Marilyn!
zongrik said
it’s not just a hit kids dream about, it’s that rounding the bases and the yelling maybe even more than the crack that lasts a lot less time.
charlesmashburn said
Lots and ots of memories.
Thanks, Tammy!
Ruth said
very cool writing – i could feel the excitement mounting, dream the dreams being dreamed (& i think, dying, as dreams too often do)
charlesmashburn said
They didn’t die actually, just faded into the past.
Thanks, Ruth!
ayala said
The fields where dreams were dreamed…I can feel this. Lovely capture, Charles.
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, Ayala!
Stan Ski said
Those were the days…
charlesmashburn said
Yes, they were!
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Truedessa said
Charles – It has been a while since I’ve read your work but, I still enjoy it! Nicely done.
charlesmashburn said
Great! I’m glad you stopped by!
Addie P. Abbott said
Nothing like some good old nostalgia. Great stuff man!
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, Addie!
lucychili said
can see the dust and adrenalin. great imagery =)
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, Lucy!
charlesmashburn said
Thank you, Lucy!
Mary said
Charles, again your poem takes me back to my childhood years. I was a MIlwaukee Brave fan in those days (that dates me..ha); and we used to pretend that we were different players on the team when we played. Like you, we had such dreams on those fields…….and fun!
charlesmashburn said
I was a Yankee fan, but for reasons I cannot recall, the Braves’ third baseman, Eddie Matthews, was one of my favorite players. And, yes, we pretended to be our favorite players, too. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were the one’s I most wanted to be. But then I would not hesitate to be Skowron, Boyer, Kubek, Richardson, Berra or Ford either.
Thanks, Mary!
Tony said
Baseball is not part of our culture, but I certainly gained an impression ofthe building excitement as the season nears, and the dreams of those who would make thier fortune with ball, bat and glove.
charlesmashburn said
Baseball was a part of my childhood. I no longer follow it, but it is definitely part of the American persona and dream.
Thanks, Tony!
Lori McClure (@lorimcspeaks) said
I do remember playing ball of all types in the neighborhood, though sometimes you were allowed to play unless they were short of boys. Your words take me back to those fun days 🙂
charlesmashburn said
Not many girls played when we were kids. In fact, the only sport thathad girls team in high school was tennis. Things have changed a lot!
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Blue Flutelue Flute said
Made me feel nostalgia even though I never played sandlot baseball… did love my Little League though 😛
charlesmashburn said
Yep! Our little league was a hoot, too! I’ll have to write about it sometime. It was a bit unique. Small town make-do kinda situation.
Sandlot Memories | Marbles In My Pocket ~ The Official Blog of Charles L. Mashburn ~ Poems, Short Stories, and random thoughts from the author of "Be Still... and know that I am God" said
[…] NOTE! This poem inspired a sequel! —>Where Dreams Were Dreamed. […]
charlesmashburn said
Reblogged this on Marbles In My Pocket ~ The Official Blog of Charles L. Mashburn ~ Poems, Short Stories, and random thoughts from the author of "Be Still… and know that I am God" and commented:
A sequel to “A Game Forgot”.