August 9, 1952
Eighty years old today!! So much
time spent, what’s it worth?
Can I match up with
eighty-year-old wines
at a thousand bucks a bottle,
forty bills a glass? Alas,
a careless life in low places
soured my grapes, leaving
a vinegar taste in the mouth
of anyone who cared enough
to take a swallow.
I need to sweeten up, find
a universe where time
goes backward, knock off
a few score years to when I was 10,
the Dodgers were in Brooklyn,
I had all my teeth and no worries
over girls, back to summer camp
on August 9, 1952, when I homered,
made a great catch, passed my swim test,
never guessing at the wreck
all the rest of the way.
by Paul Bernstein
Editor’s Note: Sometimes the most perfect day in a life isn’t recognized until most of the rest of the days have walked on by.
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