home run at Yankee Stadium

A ball the size of a grapefruit

that’s what Mickey Mantle saw

in the spring of sixty-three

as he swung and connected

producing a bright unnerving sound

as of a cannon shot or clap of thunder

to slam the fearsome homer

a smooth ballistic laser drive

that struck and nearly cleared

the stadium’s roof façade

a hundred and eight feet high

some four hundred feet away

still climbing when it hit

a home run for the ages

an inspiration and a challenge

to every man who steps up to the plate

yes, even to me, the foreigner

the kraut, the goof, the beat

a raggedy pinch-hitter

they hauled from the dugout

in desperation you might say

to save the team, the nation

perchance to save the darkling day

©Peter Edler 2006