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Cancelled by Marjorie Maddox

She has published 11 collections of poetry and 600+ stories, essays and poems in journals and anthologies

  • – Williamsport, PA: Little League World Series 2020
  • The boy, the girl, the bat,
  • abandoned
  • not just like that, but left
  • no less with less
  • in his own country,
  • her own county,
  • the state of all now
  • no state at all
  • for the winning, the cry
  • to “Play ball!” dying
  • too fast to call foul,
  • so far out of bounds
  • of all we imagined remotely
  • possible on these scrubbed streets
  • meant not for pandemics,
  • but parades, collectable pins,
  • curbside toddlers catching candy,
  • even nostalgic seniors
  • tipping their ballcaps
  • for favorite flags and destinations,
  • while uniformed twelve-year-olds—
  • momentarily glove-less—
  • practice waving back, not quite
  • believing they’ve won the right
  • to arrive in this small town
  • of heroes and dreams. Except
  • this year. Now sidelined. No,
  • cut altogether from the team.
  • There’s nothing more
  • to say. No instant replay.
  • The deserted streets
  • and stadiums will fill again,
  • but not with their smiles.
  • You can’t postpone thirteen.
Marjorie Maddox

Marjorie Maddox is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA, and has published 11 collections of poetry—including Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation (Yellowglen Prize); True, False, None of the Above (Illumination Book Award Medalist); Local News from Someplace Else; Perpendicular As I (Sandstone Book Award)—the short story collection What She Was Saying (Fomite); four children’s and YA books—including Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Readiing Poems with Insider Exercises and A Crossing of Zebras: Animal Packs in Poetry; I’m Feeling Blue, Too!Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (co-editor); Presence (assistant editor); and 600+ stories, essays and poems in journals and anthologies. For more information, please see www.marjoriemaddox.com

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  • – Williamsport, PA: Little League World Series 2020
  • The boy, the girl, the bat,
  • abandoned
  • not just like that, but left
  • no less with less
  • in his own country,
  • her own county,
  • the state of all now
  • no state at all
  • for the winning, the cry
  • to “Play ball!” dying
  • too fast to call foul,
  • so far out of bounds
  • of all we imagined remotely
  • possible on these scrubbed streets
  • meant not for pandemics,
  • but parades, collectable pins,
  • curbside toddlers catching candy,
  • even nostalgic seniors
  • tipping their ballcaps
  • for favorite flags and destinations,
  • while uniformed twelve-year-olds—
  • momentarily glove-less—
  • practice waving back, not quite
  • believing they’ve won the right
  • to arrive in this small town
  • of heroes and dreams. Except
  • this year. Now sidelined. No,
  • cut altogether from the team.
  • There’s nothing more
  • to say. No instant replay.
  • The deserted streets
  • and stadiums will fill again,
  • but not with their smiles.
  • You can’t postpone thirteen.
Marjorie Maddox

Marjorie Maddox is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA, and has published 11 collections of poetry—including Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation (Yellowglen Prize); True, False, None of the Above (Illumination Book Award Medalist); Local News from Someplace Else; Perpendicular As I (Sandstone Book Award)—the short story collection What She Was Saying (Fomite); four children’s and YA books—including Inside Out: Poems on Writing and Readiing Poems with Insider Exercises and A Crossing of Zebras: Animal Packs in Poetry; I’m Feeling Blue, Too!Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (co-editor); Presence (assistant editor); and 600+ stories, essays and poems in journals and anthologies. For more information, please see www.marjoriemaddox.com

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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