“The true test of a man is the bunt”—Ted Berrigan

A test of mettle assaying what?
Steel under stress
or integrity?

when, stooping, you drop
the barrel of your alloy bat,
to lay down the perfect bunt.

You could square that circle:
be open, honest, stand-up—
not to say courageous—

high riser at you
like a tight fist of hornets
humming mad.

Hit or miss,
it’s what’s required
semaphore at third base not withstanding:

Sacrifice.
Martyrdom.
To take one for the team,

the sure out rewarded hereafter
with soft serve
at DQ.

Still, you can’t but think
to push the ball past crashing fielders
or roll it down exacting chalk lines—

a drag bunt, troubling boundaries—
neither fair, nor foul, but equivocal,
the moment of judgement suspended:

the catcher, puma-quick, poised to pounce;
third baseman in crisis, holding his breath;
the home ump withholding sentence . . . .

Let others arbitrate probity,                   
the fairness, foulness,
or virtue of it all;                    

hellbent for rubber, you raise red dust
running for all your worth
down blurred lines.

Larry Needham is a retired community college teacher living Oberlin, Ohio.  He enjoys reading and writing short-form literature (fables, short stories and formal verse) and has published in a handful of online journals, including Amethyst Review, Writer’s Resist, Lighten Up Online and Sparks of Calliope.