Turning Pro- Ishmael Reed

      I feel like these past couple weeks have been all about baseball; school's baseball team, the Rockies, and ironically I just watched part of the Rookie this weekend... so I figured this was an appropriate poem! If you've ever seen the movie it's about an older guy who feels as if his baseball glory days are over, then suddenly he's recruited and becomes pro. Although that doesn't have a whole lot to do with the analysis of this poem, it just seemed like a crazy coincidence and was put the mental image in my head.
      I really liked how this poem was written, more like an inspirational story then a typical poem. He builds on top of every line to add to the suspense that the man in the story will walk away with a happy ending. His style was what made me like this poem so much though. The way he describes the events creates mental images from the old man to the crowds to the final game home run. He uses the word 'you' instead of 'he' which isn't typical, but really makes the audience feel as if he's talking to them, instead of just telling the story. Although I haven't exactly experienced the exact emotions in this poem, I still can say that I can relate. The feeling that we're not appreciated for all the day-to-day hard work and only are noticed when something big happens, or on the other side that joy when we do something right and get the recognition we deserve and the feeling pure happiness.
       I like that this poem was different from most of the others we've been reading. Breath of fresh air to read something happy! ha.