Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Base Stealer




The Base StealerJackie Robinson
by Robert Francis ©
Published: The Orb Weaver (1948)
Poised between going on and back, pulled
Both ways taut like a tightrope-walker,
Fingertips pointing the opposites,
Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball
Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on,
Running a scattering of steps sidewise,
How he teeters, skitters, tingles, teases,
Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird,
He's only flirting, crowd him, crowd him,
Delicate, delicate, delicate, delicate - now!
The Base Stealer by Robert Francis ©

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_base.shtml



Meter

How he teeters, skitters, tingles, teases,crowd him, crowd him

Delicate, delicate, delicate, delicate

What is it about?  What is the main idea or theme? 

On the surface it is about stealing bases, 
but it could also be about daring to do things, daring to take risks.


What is the author saying about daring to take risks?
     Why do you think so? 
     What can you find in the poem to support your thinking?



Example of a base stealer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck0cq1Rqip0