Batter Up!

“Anybody have a walk-up song?”

Crickets.

“Well, what about a pump-up song?”

Shuffling, kinda-hand raising.

“You know,” I continued, “that song that you want to hear when you step up to the plate.”

“Plate?” squints a middle-school-I-think-my-teacher-is-kinda-crazy face. “What does this foreign game which I have heard of, but almost never seen, have to do with Poetry Con ‘14?”

“The hitter stands at the plate – this thing,” I continue.   Visual needed, I pick up home plate for the class to see (yes, I have a home plate in my classroom).  “The pitcher throws the ball toward the hitter and he tries to hit it.”  “Then he runs to 1^st...it’s a tough game...300 hitter…3 outta 10 on your quiz…tutor… …difficult...pumped up…jam...swagger.  That’s your walkup song.“

For years I’ve been pleading: once the hay is in the barn, once you answered the last practice SAT question, once you crammed for your Maths test, taken the last round of pregame BP; once you’ve done what you can to prepare, “just listen to your pump up song, man.“

Hands cupped over mouth for stadium noise effect.   “Now batting, number 14, Garrett…” (dee doo doo dee  – stahted) “…Kelly!” (dee doo doo dee  – stahted) Started from the bottom now we here, we started from the bottom now the whole crew - long pause - here.

That was Garrett’s walk up song.  So, when my sons turn on the Xbox to play  NBA2K14 and Drake plays on the intro, I think Garrett Kelly.  On the playlist of my life Garrett Kelly got a spot.

Joanne and the boys have lots of tracks, so do skateratz I used to ride with in Junior high, the Galloping Ghosts of Abington HS, Mom and Dad, the Dukes, Ted, Jud, Derrick, most of my students, Amazonia, the boys on the summer teams, almost every ballpark I’ve been to, China – in no particular order, and certainly with more to come, this is my playlist, and every song has a purpose.

But what that song says, the story it tells, that is the poetry.  So the driving questions - Is music poetry? Is your favorite song a poem?  Does your life have a playlist?  Do you have a walk up song?  Find one, because you’re up!