Edward R. Smith

THE MORNING CRACKS TO PEELING

the morning cracks to peeling
paint off Bayonne ’s oil refinery

the black Pulaski Skyway
built by immigrant labor

against an orange line of
buildings that don’t hear

the cries of children
chasing a rubber ball

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Note: This poem was cut into red marble by Washington, D.C. artist Larry Kirkland for the Poets’ Wall in New York City’s Penn Station on the 7th Avenue New Jersey Transit concourse. It was published in Blue Stones & Salt Hay, edited by Joel Lewis. (Rutgers University Press, 1990.)

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PEPITONE’S FOUL BALL

One summer day in 1960s Lyndhurst, NJ in
Grandpa Lotito’s driveway Uncle Frank
Motioned to me to play catch. “Hey, Eddie,
This is Joe Pepitone’s foul ball, CATCH IT!”

It stung my 10-year-old hands. With that catch
I thought of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and
Roger Maris patrolling the lush green outfield of
Yankee Stadium under the evening stars in

The South Bronx. Joe Pepitone led the American League
Three times for fielding percentage, three time All-Star at
First base. The media remembers him for
Getting shot in the stomach with “his boys,” gambling,

Putting a hair dryer in his locker, and chasing women.
But to Uncle Frank and I, Joe represented one of
Us Italian American guys who worked blue-collar jobs
And he made it all the way up to 161st Street.

We tossed that baseball until my hands were red.
Joe Pepitone hit this foul ball; Uncle Frank picked it up
And here we were tossing it around Grandpa’s driveway waiting for
The Washington Senators to play the Yankees on the radio at 1 PM.

Published in Paterson Literary Review, Editor’s Choice in 2003 from Maria Mazzotti Gillan.

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Manville Library Director Ed Smith’s poem “morning cracks” is on permanent display in New York City’s Penn Station 7th Avenue Concourse. He recently appeared with Bob Holman at the Bowery Club promoting the Stephen Crane Short Poem Festival and Brevitas magazine.