Rain delay — Shea Stadium, June 2007

Tom Glavine throws six shutout innings
Then the rain returns
steady and effortless
falling through floodlit darkness
onto the abandoned orange seats
pooling on the white tarp over the infield
soaking the flawless outfield grass.
My friend and I sit beneath the overhang
conversing in the way you do
with those you have known at least twenty years
as we watch the security staff
in their yellow raincoats
dutifully guarding the field against nobody
silent and hooded like monks.

The Sopranos ending was fine

I know it’s old news now — a week old. But here’s my belated two cents.
The ending was fine! Fucks everyone whining about? I heard soundbytes on the radio from irate fans complaining about not getting “closure.” Closure? Don’t make me puke. You need to see Tony’s brains splattered all over the onion rings in front of his family in order to achieve closure? That’s pitiful.
What is wrong with a little ambiguity? Either he got shot, or he didn’t. The end.

Libby sentence: with friends like these…

This morning NPR reported on the Libby sentencing and said that he submitted letters of support from such luminaries as Paul Wolfowitz, Henry Kissinger, and Donald Rumsfeld. If it were me up there getting sentenced, I could do without the help of friends like these who themselves deserve to be locked up. I’d sooner accept a character reference from Vernon T. Bludgeon himself.