lay 1 down

[This post comprises 2 separate---in time & in topic---posts.  The 1st is "us30 hwy haiku (aka, "eh, take a haik(u)"); #2 hails from 11 &/or 12-2017, & is titled "lay 1 down"]
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us30 hwy haiku        [aka “eh, take a haik(u)!”]                   ~8-2009                                           

wind moves across green
sea of beans, a hand unseen
stroking velveteen

children of the corn
volunteering where they can,
rogues among the beans

corn children, grown tall
now lean against each other
in competition

crowding each other
for position on the boards
commodities rule

high(post)-fructose corn
syrup hits low-emissions
(post) on give-and-go

7-foot center
pivots, feeds 6-footers on
the perimeter

he who walks between
the rows knows this year’s team has
great height---and he smiles

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Lay 1 down                                                                                                    11 or 12-2017                

HE was my older brother

until I turned 5

then HE would forever be

younger than i

HIS older brother was then

is now & will always be

older than HE

in the best of all worlds

where all metaphors speak baseball

MY older brother

laid down a perfect sacrifice

so HIS older brother

could make it home safely

HIS older brother was

bright beyond his years

surely he understood

what happened that day

surely he knew the meaning

of what MY older brother

had done, when HE gave

HIS older brother’s hand

a last perfect suicide squeeze

and sacrificed him home

with the walk-off score

HIS older brother would walk on

for the appointed 3 score

& 10 & probably more

how does this game summary

appear in his mind

has he left it behind

in the icy waters of time

or has it been replayed

endlessly in his head

complete with the director’s cut,

alternate endings, the what-ifs,

the “there but for the grace of”

MY older brother

MY older brother CANnot tell me

HIS older brother WILL not tell me

‘why’ for the former is plain to see

‘why’ for the latter, less obviously,

but can be imagined easily

by me

oh, my brothers…

now my eyes can surely see

sadly, honestly, finally

MY older brother i cannot be

HIS older brother i cannot free

the order has prevented me

[epilog:  ‘hey, it’s for you---i.e., it tolls for thee’]