Welcome to “Poetry at The Arts Fuse.” A new poem every Thursday.

Black Fans with the Barnstorming Babe

Black fans of baseball lean over the wooden fence
To get close to the King of Clout as he takes a picture.
The cameraman tells the brothers to knock it off,
Their posing and smiling, and by that, he really means
Just their general presence there.
Babe shouts back to the photographer to do his damn job
And don’t mind the black men just there to enjoy the game.

After the photo and Babe chatting up the guys,
Two paths diverge in what comes next in a hardball tall tale:
In Babe Ruth’s most famous appearance in the Negro Leagues,
The barnstorming Big Bam either struck out
Four times against the great Satchel Paige,
Or took one of his hesitation pitches to unimaginable heights,
Way beyond the grandstand.

Or, none of it happened, except the picture.

The greatest black pitcher against the greatest white hitter lacks history
Because in the real world, not even forces of nature,
Like Babe’s bat and Satchel’s arm, or the love of game,
Could break down the most stubborn of hate and barriers….

Matthew Johnson is the author of the poetry collections, Shadow Folks and Soul Songs (Kelsay Books), Far from New York State (NYQ Press), and the recently released chapbook, Too Short to Box with God (Finishing Line Press). His work has appeared in Front Porch Review, London Magazine, Obsidian Magazine, Roanoke Review, and elsewhere. Recipient of Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominations, he’s the managing editor of The Portrait of New England and poetry editor of The Twin Bill. Website: matthewjohnsonpoetry.com

Note: Hey poets! We seek submissions of excellent poetry from across the length and breadth of contemporary poetics. See submission guidelines here. The arbiter of the feature is the magazine’s poetry editor, John Mulrooney.

— Arts Fuse editor Bill Marx