Sarah Freligh - "Star"

Al's stalled in line this far
from where The Mick sit
signing bits of paper and Gleem
white baseballs to Joey and to Bobby best wishes
impatiently waits in front of a trapped
a galaxy of tarnished men trapped
in orbit around photos of Eugene Staniskowski,
twelve-letter man, here,
basketball shorts framing
skinny legs frozen at the apex
of the jump shot that won
a state championship for Buffalo High,
and there, captured
for eternity at the of his windup. Al
holds the baseball split-fingered
the way Coach showed him, wonders
if his fastball is faster than Eugene Staniskowski's
when he struck out eighteen in the city
championship. Signed by the Dodgers
that year but went with Uncle Sam
instead, and there's the Purple Heart he won
for dying on an island that wasn't
on any map and here's
Mickey Mantle
finally
smaller than Al imagined a hero should be.


Sort of Gone