Friday, June 21, 2024

Willie Mays Sprints Into Heaven

Just who greeted
Willie Mays when
he sprinted around
the last base (cap
flying off like a black
bird) and came home
to Heaven?

All the gods within
the Gods, that's who.
Not all of them are fans
of baseball, that baroque
American sport. But

in spite of us, they're all
fans of joy and buoyancy
and the quickening of talent
and of people who rise above
even as they're fighting through.
Yeah, all the gods, that's who.

Willie's summer-dawn smile
opened, and the gods smiled
back, and Willie scored
his forever winning run. 


hans ostrom 2024

HOFer Reggie Jackson Talks About The Racism He Experienced In Birmingham

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Two-Faced Time

Time, the vicious versatile thug:
pickpocket, shoplifter, burglar,
armed robber, assassin, dictator . . . .
Why can't Time get a real job
like the rest of us?

Time, robust provider:
opener of space for life.
Enabler of Evolution. 
Angel of music. Parent
of our necessary illusions.
Kind casino boss, who gives us
good chances to win 
encounters with the Mystery
that may be God.


hans ostrom 2024

Where the Roads Go

 And soon the roads will take you to
The place that has no roads
And there you will be lost to time,
Old traveler. The forest will absorb you.
(The roads themselves will be absorbed.)

The birds are always well aware
They must make room for other birds.
And every raging storm
Leaves codes for future storms.

The continent of language
Your brain has built itself
To let you play with signs
And sounds will vanish--yes,
The moment your mind leaves 
Its road, your unique ways 

Of seeing, saying--indeed,
The World you birthed--
Will vanish like one breath
Into the air of all the breaths
Breathed ever in their time. 


hans ostrom 2024