Zvi Sesling
How Many Angels
I am focusing on the head of a pin
To determine not how many, but
If even one angel can dance on it
Or if angels even exist because
No one has ever actually seen one
Oh, there was the Archangel Gabriel, who
With two angels visited Abraham
So maybe in the bible angels do
exist – in the bible and Hollywood that is
And, of course, in paintings, stories
And cute nicknames for little girls like
Angel or Angel Pie and so on while
Some men call their wives or girlfriend
Angel, but the only angel I ever knew of
Was Angel Scull on a 1954 Topps baseball
Card with his Washington Senators cap
And his face on a green background
Scull was an Angel who couldn’t fly –
Even worse he couldn’t hit in the
Majors so when the Senators headed for
Minnesota, Angel was shipped to the minors
Which is to say an angel can play baseball but not dance
On the head of a pin – even if they exist
Note: Angel Scull was a Cuban baseball player who never played in the majors. However, in 1954 Topps issue his baseball card, but a spring training injury ended his career. Unlike Moonlight Graham or Adam Greenberg, Scull never even had his one at-bat. to my knowledge, his is the only baseball card issued for a player who never appeared in a major league game. This poem was previously published at baseballbard.com
Zvi A. Sesling edits Muddy River Poetry and reviews for Boston Small Press and Poetry Scene. He is author of a full length poetry book, King of the Jungle (Ibbetson Street Press, 2010) and a poetry chapbook Across Stones of Bad Dreams (Cervena Barva Press, 2011). His full-length volume, Fire Tongue, is due from Cervena Barva Press in 2013.
