A Sestina On Some Lines By Yogi Berra Comments

Jesse, the past ain't what it used to be either. (Rice Cake)

It IS 'deja vu all over again' to read this, as it brought back a childhood memory of a father who kept his ear glued to the radio, for every ballgame that came along! Wonderful memories of the Yogi...wonderfully written as well!

This is a highly intelligent blitz of ideas and images woven through with a manic humour and a little touch of sadness here and there, perhaps coming from the deliberate impression of barely keeping in touch with what's happening. But the outstanding quality is the onslaught of cleverly organised apparent confusion, the sense of which is heightened very effectively by the use of phrases such as 'the wrong mistake' and 'you can observe a lot by watching'. A scintillating display of considerable control. A pleasure to read. I'll be back for more.

I have thought that Jess's work was proselike, but it has it's own sound that you fully realize when you hear him read it. It's concentrated, fully enunciated, and often through repetiton he brings the work full circle and you can really hear it. I like to read Jess's work outloud and really listen to it. I know from talking to Jess that he really thinks about every word in a poem, and every word is valued for both its meaning and its sound.

The title hooked me, Jesse. It is fun, but still seems more like prose. Raynette

A wonderful title, and I feel the lines, 'maybe it was all a mistake and the Dodgers will come back to Brooklyn again, ' are immortal, they speak for every dashed hope, every lost joy! Glad to have read the poem. ps: I can remember being maybe 6, watching on TV, the Dodgers playing in Jersey City, when they were trying out places to move to, even before LA.