50+ Lifestyles

A Pause for Poetry

By Gary Heath
Poet in Residence for 50+ Lifestyles.

 

 

 

Our Nation of Strong Shoulders

Our nation is a nation of strong

Shoulders, many strong shoulders

All over this land. You never know

Where you’ll find them, they are

Everywhere. Women with strong

Shoulders provide for a family,

One job at home, one away paid.

Men with strong shoulders work

Extra shifts for their kids. Just

Two examples. We are a country

Blessed, millions of buff, sturdy

Shoulders, hard deltoid shields,

Durable, inviolable. We are a

People from many lands used to

Laying a shoulder into what needs

To be done, difficult to near

Impossible, but we always get it

Done. We believe in powerful

Shoulders. Strong shoulders lift,

Strong shoulders push, strong

Shoulders move, strong shoulders

Do whatever it takes. They made

Our America we celebrate July 4th.

 

Little Leaguer at Bat

The Little Leaguer, tyke of a guy,

Swings hard, as he always has the

Games he got to play. Sound of

This swing is different. No whiff

Of air, a strange event, a sound of

Of the bat taking a hit from a

Powerful external force, a small

Sphere clad in cowhide. He hears

His parents yell, a new tone he’s

Not heard before, their voices

Sharp, crisp, pitch rising. This is

Different right off the bat. He looks

Up to see the ball trace a near

Parabola to clear the fence. He

Thinks: the ball went over the fence.

Someone did that. His coach yells

For him to run. So he runs. He’s the

Boy who hit the ball that went over the

Fence above the ad for white bread

That builds strong young bodies. The

Little Leaguer who always strikes out

Just hit a mighty homerun for his team.