2008: It Still Bugs Me It's No Longer Green
For those of you who were not reading
The 'San Francisco Chronicle' back when
The sports section was printed
On green newsprint
- - - you may not see the loss as I do
They throw us old readers a bone
They still call it 'The Sporting Green'
Sometimes printing the heading in green
onn white newsprint - BFD
- - - if you know what I mean
They said the cost of green newsprint
Had gotten too high
So had the ballplayers' salaries
But they weren't all replaced with white rookies
- - - if ya know what I mean
Every morning Mon. to Sat. - - - there it was
Green and ready to be
Pulled out from the other sections
I might look at later
Regardless of how big the paper was
How they folded it
I could always put my hands on
Last night's final scores and today's schedules
It tucked neatly into my back pocket
So on my first break
I could read about
Some of the other games
You could tell who in the shop
Played the ponies
Their attention was on
Yesterday's results and payouts
Constantly checking and rechecking
Before it was time
To turn in their betting slips to Mary-the-Book
On the loading dock
No live racing on your iPhone
Not even Watch-and-Wager
At the fairgrounds back then
To get your bets down
[...] Read more
poem by Tom J. Mariani
Added by Poetry Lover
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