Popsicle on a Stick
Lancaster Municipal Stadium with F-18 on a Stick
I live in Antelope Valley, which is more than one city, but the Valley has one theme in common and that is Aerospace. The City of Lancaster has an Aerospace Walk of Honor, and for a monument, you can see an old F-4, mounted. The Air Force community calls this static display a Popsicle on a stick.
There are Popsicles on Sticks all over Antelope Valley, even in front of our farm team stadium. So that is what I decided to write this poem about. I threw in some imagry on baseball, food, smells, Popsicles and sticks.
Popsicle on a Stick
don’t drink
much at home
but at the
stadium
it’s delicious
first glance
cute
not-world class
but good enough
in any language
salon du chocolate
it is not
but someone got
taken out
for a dog or two
diesel overpower
rosin scent, over
ash, hickory, maple
and beer that smells
like stinky cheese
Popsicle
pop tail
wind tail
wind pipe
it’s on a stick
on a stick
with a bat
club on strike
whack a mole
thwack it back
**************************
Hear this
on Sound Cloud
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Written for:
City Songs for Poetics
Today, I wrote the poem for D’verse Poetry prompt by Gabriella to write about a city. But the City I live by is Lancaster, CA so I chose to write about the closest thing to a square, the display in front of the stadium.
Image credits: The Hangar, home of the Lancaster JetHawks Lancaster, California
Posted on December 10, 2014, in D’verse Poets Pub, Poetry and tagged antelope valley, baseball, ca, dog poetry, dVerse Poets Pub, dversepoets, F-18 poetry, form for all, lancaster, lear channel stadium, old aircraft, online poetry, poetics, Poetry & Prompts, poetry forms, poetry prompt, poetry sharing, sticks and bats, writing prompt. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.
Verification wastes my time, and often doesn't work. I am going to stop commenting on pages that require verification one of these days.
ZONGRIK 
You missed an obvious one a pop fly!, but I really like this one, living in the Valley, and having worked in aerospace for most of my working adult life. I am not a critic of prose, but it brings tears to my eyes, maybe just because of the Seasonal Affect Disorder, or just because… Thanks!
awwww!! Tears!!! So unexpected on this one. And yeah, I did totally miss the pop fly. Good one. it does belong in there.
What a fun poem! Thanks for posting!
The best popsicles I have ever had were in England. I have never tried had one while watching a game. We have sodas and fries.
you don’t have popsicles while watching a game here either. it’s just an expression that the aviation industry and air force uses for airplanes that are mounted like that. but then you go to the ball park, and bats are sticks, and hot dogs are like sticks, so there’s kind of a whole imagery theme going on.
i’m from NYC, so this is a weird place, to me, when you come down to it. i grew up where i could see the night lights of Yankee Stadium from my bedroom. and here, this is baseball.
Thank you for enlightening me.
When I lived in Lancaster in 1983, they did not have that stadium. Then we moved to Victorville near the Roy Rogers museum, & I had a job clear up in China Lake & Ridgecrest; only came home on weekends; didn’t help a bad marriage either. One 3 a.m. driving back to Ridgecrest on Monday, I had a UFO encounter there in the triangle between Edwards AFB, Area 51, & the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake; oh yeah, you got the memories flowing.
wow. you’re the second person to have a profound reaction to this very silly poem. how does that happen? my younger son swears he saw a UFO also.
You picked my favorite spot in the valley. Love that park…. and the beer tastes so good during a game…. never drink it at home…wonderful memory of smells you evoke (except for the diesel, ha) Popsicle on a stick…. that’s now stuck in my mind and I’ll remember it at every game.
Glen saw a UFO?… I saw Santa and his reindeer one year flying …. I was just a little girl, but I know it was him! That’s my UFO story and I’m sticking to it!
i confess… i didn’t even know what a popsicle is before i looked it up after reading your poem… ha…love how you wove in scent… always love when i can smell a poem
stinky cheese beer…ok, you have me intrigued…i like how you give just some impressions through the senses…a popsickle ona stick…ha…its a cool jet though….
I love the wordplay in the last 2 stanzas – very intriguing. I know the town this would compare to – linkōping – where there are plenty of planes on display.
Mg
This was a very interesting read. Seems like a very cool place. Full of sauce and flavors.
Apologies for the previous typo comment. Posting through phone. Please delete it.
Of course, I so appreciate this little piece of California that I just by-pass heading north and south between Reno and the desert. Great use of sensory detail in this.
beautiful humor, thanks for sharing.