In San Juan’s suburban barrio San Anton
El Pueblo de los Tumbabrazos
The Town of Those Who Cut Off Arms
There is an up and coming baseball player
He is a young boy consumed with the game
With batting, catching, throwing and sliding
Literally speaking, he plays ball all the time
He plays with paper balls and rubber balls
Tennis balls and balls made of aluminum foil
He uses tin cans or bottle caps as baseballs
He makes baseballs of rags, socks and strings
He fashions pieces of garbage into baseballs
He fashions everything he can into bats as well
Bats are broomsticks or his fists intertwined
Sometimes he uses sugar cane for a bat
When he can’t play with others, he plays alone
He throws a ball against a wall and fields it
He throws a ball high in the air and catches it
He tries to throw balls as far as he can
He tries to throw balls at distant targets
He practices sliding feet first and head first
In San Juan’s suburban barrio San Anton
There is an up and coming baseball player
I’m told that his name is Clemente