D.A. Powell
there were times
when he swung
I was sure
he’d hit me
other times
I wished for
such contact
he swung for
the fences
and dropped that
hot wood like
a blacksmith’s
hot horseshoe
my hands scorched
when I picked
up his bat
why couldn’t I
be the one
who hit that
DA Powell's books include Repast (Graywolf, 2014) and Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys (Graywolf, 2012). He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well the 2019 John Updike Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Powell teaches at University of San Francisco.
