the numbers on their backs

the numbers on their backs

 

 

 

home plate,

of boned china...

who's safe there?

we throw arms at each other

not around,

 

the umpire is a grizzled veteran

wants to give the peace signal

but the right arm goes up with the out call

just before it gets blown off

 

by a detonated feeling

that this game can never be settled

no one will be carried off the field of life

in victory,

instead the dead 

are whisked away

 

and we stare down at our programs

pretending to care who the players are

or more importantly, 

 

were.

 

 

before the dishes shatter

and we have to eat off paper plates

with sad headlines.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

7/4/16

Reviews

[Alfred Kukitz]

The game must be played; the cost heavy but what else to do except pass the paper plates around.

Want another hot dog fan?

Regards,
Al

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, please!

thank you, Al.
j.

[Marcus Sergiu David]

"but the right arm goes up with the out call
just before it gets blown off

by a detonated feeling"

Beautiful use of language and another sincere poem.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Marcus.
j.

[Ana Papaya]

I'm watching something on the news that shows a man throwing his arms up in surrender and yet he still gets shot and the sad thing is that I'm watching thinking 'oh, another police officer shoots and kills a black man, that's not going to go over well'. I think I've become desensitized to what's on tv.
Anyway, this made me think of that. I don't know why.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

again, i really appreciate your perspectives, Ana...how you relate or visualize the poems you read...

i appreciate your visits...

j.

[Gypsy Warrior Queen]

I love you my watcher friend! ALWAYS PROFESSING SO MANY TRUTHS in subliminal ways. They stick yal know! Even when we don't wanna listen...they stick. Namaste!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Queenie...

j.

[emmajoy]

Whilst not understanding the 'game' references i certainly 'get the (horrific) drift' In some countries life is cheap because of... you know what i mean' however, more and more time and power juggles people's lives, sweeping aside the weak and inspiring the already powerful. 'we stare down at our programs pretending to care.. ' However, more and more people stand on the sideliness waiting for...rugs to be pulled from under their feet, the rules of the game, any game.. fatal. They might not be gunned or bombed, lose limbs or sanity but the referee seems to turn a blind eye. forgetting rules, creating a free for all instead, no matter the numbers on the backs.

Dismal and hopeless tho it might be, the world is tip over arse right now and the ripple of it is maiming too many, too much, too easily. As you say, 'who's safe there? we throw arms at each other .. .. not around,'

Oops.. sorry, your writing has yet again raised the temperature and standard of writing in here. Thank you.. apologies for spouting off.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i appreciate all that you said...and it is all truth, and a very sad one.

standing on the sidelines is not the answer...it wasn't back in the sixties, it isn't now...where are the voices speaking out...where is the rebellion against apathy and against the violence?

thank you, emma...

j.

[Jon Roggie]

Spot on. Still trying to understand. Why is it so silent?

[emmajoy]

Why is it so silent? Apathy. from those who quite like what they have - a 'don't rock the boat' syndrome. BUT for many: hopelessness.. helplessness.. fear.. social constraints.. lack of education.. a systematic building of of invisible walls - to name a few. However, the worse kind of silence comes from those who believe they have the right to misuse their power. And by the way, history shows that silence is as bad as action in more cases than not ... go choose!

Oops, good morning.

[EileenMarie]

I'm so bad with metaphors so bear with me.
Whats going on in America now with the 2 candidates is comical and to think 1 will win, we have no choice at the moment.
and " before the dishes shatter and we have to eat off paper plates with sad headlines" will be the day after the election BUT I hope for one that something good does happen!
Nice Job

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i really like your interpretation...and you certainly are not bad with metaphors...and besides, EileenMarie...whatever you see is what it is...you are the reader, the poem belongs to you.

thank you

j.

[Carolynn]

This one sounds political to me but I'm not sure. I know in Canada we aren't feeling safe on our home plate and many of us feel things can shatter at any time...

[jacob erin-cilberto]

it is just unsafe everywhere...

thank you for your thoughts, Carolynn..

j.

[Einstein Noodle]

man! do i hear you ... the politics of life are never ending and so numbing ...a blown off arm is just a matter of course :(
E.
ps. i actually prefer paper plates to boned china ... i don't have to clean up after myself ... :{

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, E.---yes, a flimsy world we are living in at the moment....

j.

[Alisa Js]

I am inclined to think that this journey we call life is one big game at the end of the day...as during this journey, it seems to be all about winners and losers...

... thanks for sharing

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Alisa...

j.

[andrew mitchell]

this reads like a greek wedding breaking plates and your baseball game where rivalry takes no prisoners until its over, but then again ice hockey is a death sport lol

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, if the other person is icy....a death sport....so true.

thank you, andrew.

j.