A Sestina On Some Lines By Yogi Berra Poem by Jesse Weiner
A Sestina On Some Lines By Yogi Berra
the future ain't what it used to be,
it seems like the past coming back again,
like an open book, a dime store novel, a new mistake.
the Dodgers are leaving Brooklyn, O'Malley said,
and it looks as though I'll relive that day over
and over, like a looped film I can't stop watching.
you can observe a lot by watching
Dodger fans and Yankee fans, the series would be
a way for a man to show his character over
beer and baseball on black and white tv. the Yankees
win again,
wait until next year, the Dodger fans said.
rooting for Brooklyn seemed a tragic mistake.
I don't want to make the wrong mistake.
it's all a matter of knowing who's watching,
remembering everything that's ever been said,
the Dodgers are gone, we won't be
the same in this city again.
but still, those days refuse to be over.
it ain't over til it's over.
maybe it was all a mistake
and the Dodgers will come back to Brooklyn again,
time will reverse, and we would be watching
ourselves rush backwards to the moment we came to be,
undo our pasts, take back the words we said.
I didn't really say everything I said.
it sounds so different when I say it over.
better to leave it be,
the past works to spotlight the mistake
on a stage with everyone watching.
attendance for this one is falling again.
it's deja vu all over again.
like echoes, I hear those words I said,
floating like shadows and here I am, watching.
the Brooklyn Dodgers, like a page turned over,
are leaving for California, but whose mistake
is it supposed to be?
it's all a game I keep watching, even though it's over.
you're hearing what I said, is it a mistake
to be listening again? what else could it be?
It IS 'deja vu all over again' to read this, as it brought back a childhood memory of a father who kept his ear glued to the radio, for every ballgame that came along! Wonderful memories of the Yogi...wonderfully written as well!
This is a highly intelligent blitz of ideas and images woven through with a manic humour and a little touch of sadness here and there, perhaps coming from the deliberate impression of barely keeping in touch with what's happening. But the outstanding quality is the onslaught of cleverly organised apparent confusion, the sense of which is heightened very effectively by the use of phrases such as 'the wrong mistake' and 'you can observe a lot by watching'. A scintillating display of considerable control. A pleasure to read. I'll be back for more.
I have thought that Jess's work was proselike, but it has it's own sound that you fully realize when you hear him read it. It's concentrated, fully enunciated, and often through repetiton he brings the work full circle and you can really hear it. I like to read Jess's work outloud and really listen to it. I know from talking to Jess that he really thinks about every word in a poem, and every word is valued for both its meaning and its sound.
The title hooked me, Jesse. It is fun, but still seems more like prose. Raynette
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/4/2024 8:10:24 PM # 1.0.0.1119
A wonderful title, and I feel the lines, 'maybe it was all a mistake and the Dodgers will come back to Brooklyn again, ' are immortal, they speak for every dashed hope, every lost joy! Glad to have read the poem. ps: I can remember being maybe 6, watching on TV, the Dodgers playing in Jersey City, when they were trying out places to move to, even before LA.