Cure For The Common Curse
golden gloves and wooden bats.
Add shoulder slings for broken wings
of home run hitters and strikeout kings.
lift it before it does get worse.
May it inflict our rivals worse,
it’s time to end this dreaded curse.
This poem is the second poem inspired by the Chicago Cubs.
The assignment for this piece was to emulate the style of trochaic meter, as found in the classic line "double double, toil and trouble." Part two of the assignment asked for me to write an incantation, so I decided to write an incantation that would reverse the curse of the billy goat.
For those of you who aren't as baseball savvy as I am, read further for a brief history lesson.
The curse of the billy goat has plagued the Cubs since 1945, when a gypsy and his goat sat in the bleachers of Wrigley Field during a World Series game. The goat smelled, fans complained and the ushers asked the man and his goat to leave.
They didn't want to, so on his way out the man allegedly cursed the Cubs, saying they would never reach the World Series ever again.
They haven't.
The first part of the first line ("heart of goat") was inspired by that. The second part of that line ("tail of black cat") was inspired by the infamous black cat incident. For more info., keep reading.
In 1969 the Cubs had a team of stars that held first place for over 100 games and were looking to go to the World Series for the first time since 1945. That team had Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Ron Santo (who should be in the Hall of Fame!!!)
However, the team swooned in the second half as the up and coming New York Mets charged for the division. Late in the season the Cubs and Mets met in a pivotal series.
During that series a black cat appeared at Shea Stadium (home of the Mets) and circled Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, who was standing in the on deck circle and then stared directly at Cubs manager Leo Durocher.
The Cubs would go on to lose that game and the division to the Mets, who would go on to win the World Series (of course).
That moment was the first of many misfortunes the Cubs (and Santo) had in that park (which will thankfully be demolished soon). This Cubs fan will never forget the time Santo's favorite hair piece caught fire in the Shea Stadium press box.
Now that I've got those two history lesson's out of the way, I hope that this will clarify any questions you had about the poem.
I hope you enjoyed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment