About the Poems - AB
About the Poem
by Anne Boyer One summer I was pregnant, and during this pregnancy I developed a craving for the Kansas City Royals. The young, clean-shaven Johnny Damon was my favorite player. I passed much of that summer in general admission at the "K" watching Johnny while my unborn daughter kicked me in the ribs. To my pleasure, the Royals beat the Yankees, and soon after this victory Johnny Damon and I met in a phlebotomy lab. We had our blood drawn together, sitting face to face and muttering small shy jokes while the technicians tied off our arms. I've been writing Johnny poems ever since, or, more precisely, for each lyric exploration of heterosexual urges, I also celebrate Johnny. He has come to represent the virile force in all men. Johnny Damon promised never to leave Kansas City. That Johnny now plays for the Red Sox explains most everything – less Beatrice, more Benedict. As the phlebotomists are known to say of baseball or love: "this might hurt." Just a pinch.