These poems by Charles North – they’re short, have two –
appear in his
Complete Lineups (Hanging
Loose Press, 2009).
CITIES
San Francisco ss
Munich cf
Paris lf
Rome
c
Madrid 3b
London rf
Athens 1b
Istanbul 2b
New York p
MOVIES
A Day at the Races rf
The Maltese
Falcon lf
Rules of the Game 3b
Children of
Paradise cf
On the Waterfront 1b
The Lady Vanishes ss
The Baker’s Wife 2b
Odd Man Out c
Masculine
Feminine p
As the season (don’t ask what season:
the season) is about to open, at last, as Johan Santana gets ready
to win 25 games, as Jose Reyes prepares to play all 162 games (plus the
post-season), as David Wright gets set for 35 homers, as Jenrry Mejia and Ike
Davis step into our dreams of rookie glory – ah, let it all roll out! – as the
whole team lines up for kisses on the forehead, what better time to turn our
attention to Charles North’s
Complete
Lineups?
Answer: No better time,
right now, before Oliver Perez goes on the DL again.
The lineup poems were introduced in Charles’ first book, in
1972, and new ones have appeared in magazines and books over the years.
Last year, we brought them all together in
one beautiful little book, with art by Paula North, a key member of the
coaching staff from the beginning.
The
book has received some very nice reviews in poetry publications – and on
MLB.com.
“I don’t know what the non-fan will make of Complete Lineups,” wrote William
Corbett, in his introduction to the book, “but for those love baseball North’s
book is bliss. The first lineup,
“Cities,” has Rome
catching and batting cleanup. Yes!
Catcher is the position to which all roads lead. San
Francisco, the Baghdad
by the Bay, leads off, surely a thief on the bases, and plays shortstop. Istanbul,
batting eighth and playing second, is just right for the “exotic” position
played by Hall of Famers as worlds apart as light hitting Nellie Fox and the
power-hitters Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg.”
Bill brings the same insights as he moves along to Vegetables, British
Poets, Diseases, Philosophers, Wildflowers, Herbs & Spices, and the other
lineups. (To my knowledge, Charles has
not addressed the subject of competition between these teams, so we don’t have
any tabloid headlines like Diseases Kill Composers or Colors Fade in Extra
Innings.)
Wait – what’s that?
Daniel Murphy out for maybe six weeks?
It’s starting, already? We may
need an immediate lineup of Anxieties.
Note: For an excellent
discussion of Charles North’s work, see the piece by Michael Schiavo that
appeared on this blog in February.
-- Robert Hershon
