The Trouble Ball: Poems - Softcover

Martin Espada

 
9780393343564: The Trouble Ball: Poems

Synopsis

In this new collection of poems, Martin Espada crosses the borderlands of epiphany and blasphemy: from a pilgrimage to the tomb of Frederick Douglass to an encounter with the swimming pool at a centre of torture and execution in Chile, from the adolescent discovery of the poet Omar Khayyam to the death of an "illegal" Mexican immigrant. From "The Trouble Ball" On my father's island, there were hurricanes and tuberculosis, dissidents in jail and baseball. The loudspeakers boomed: Satchel Paige pitching for the Brujos of Guayama. From the Negro Leagues he brought the gifts of Baltasar the King; from a bench on the plaza he told the secrets of a thousand pitches: The Trouble Ball, The Triple Curve, The Bat Dodger, The Midnight Creeper, The Slow Gin Fizz, The Thoughtful Stuff. Pancho Co mbre hit rainmakers for the Leones of Ponce; Satchel sat the outfielders in the grass to play poker, windmilled three pitches to the plate, and Pancho spun around three times. He couldn't hit The Trouble Ball.

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About the Author

Martín Espada has published more than twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist and translator, including Vivas to Those Who Have Failed and Pulitzer finalist The Republic of Poetry. His many honors include the Ruth Lilly Prize, the Shelley Memorial Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Born in Brooklyn, he now lives in western Massachusetts.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780393080032: The Trouble Ball – Poems

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  039308003X ISBN 13:  9780393080032
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011
Hardcover