DiMaggio swore his “eyes popped
out” the first time
he saw Hank Greenberg
swing a bat.
Who can know
what it was like
for Greenberg, in 1938,
kept from glory near
season’s end?
Once I dated
a French Moroccan
who avoided all
physicality with me,
never explaining why.
Some say since Greenberg was a Jew
they wouldn’t pitch to him,
didn’t want
a Hebrew breaking
Babe Ruth’s famous record.
I did manage to kiss her
months in,
but once I did
she abruptly said,
“We’re done. I can’t feel
any stronger than
just this.”
I never saw inside her
small room. I imagine
entering it
was like that
slow motion rush
around first, crowd
on its feet,
not feeling my own feet
touch the ground
and forgetting
to breathe.
Author of the full-length poetry book “Bar Mitzvah Dreams,” Baruch November‘s works have also been featured in NewMyths.com, The Forward, Lumina, & Paterson Literary Review. His poem “After Esav” was nominated for a Pushcart prize. He teaches writing and literature at Touro College.