Speech in a Chamber

It is a scent of such astonishing strength,
why, Leopold, there are flowers hidden
throughout the room. There must be for I

cannot sleep without the noise of a boquet,
and gently, gently, sir, you know
I sleep most gently in this small room.

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I’d been reading books. Not baseball books. Biographies: Martin Luther King, Gandhi. To play baseball right you have to forget that you’re a person; you’re muscles, bone, the need for sleep and food. So when you stop, you’re saved by someone else’s ideas. This isn’t true just for baseball players. It’s true for anyone who’s failed at what he loves.

—from “Where We Are Now,” Ethan Canin (thanks, Marina)

(Source: ofravens)