Fan Mail Paperback – July 15, 2021

I was entranced with this book of 78 poems by Joey Nicoletti written as 'fan mail' for the baseball players he grew up admiring as a young boy into a man. His adoration of the game and the players is not told in a sentimental style. What makes FAN MAIL a stand out poetry collection is Nicoletti's willingness to incorporate many personal and often difficult details from his own coming of age in a conflicted household, during a conflicted time in history. In a fan mail to Darryl Strawberry the poet writes: "Dear Mr. Strawberry, / you made the Mets / irresistible in my tweens / and teenage years / with your lethal left-handed / uppercut swing, / your cool name, and great wheels. / My mother was also a fan, / so much so, she gave me /your Sports Illustrated poster / as a reward / for making the honor roll, / before my father left her / for the final time. /.../" This is as close as poetry and memoir will ever be, for both the poet and his subjects. The open-door emotional quality of this work, told almost matter of fact, is staggering. In a fan mail to Mookie Wilson: "Mr. Wilson, I have been a fan of yours / since I saw your name / on the scoreboard of Big Shea Stadium / with my Uncle Michael, back in the day / when he was still alive, before / anyone knew the full extent / of the damage that was done to him / by Agent Orange. /... /" Poet Joey Nicoletti almost 'sneaks in' these salient details, as if he were having a conversation with the player, which I imagine would top his wish list. A favorite of mine is a fan mail for Razor Shines: "Dear Mr. Shines: Razor, / do I have to live / a life others want / for me, just because / they've chosen it / for themselves? / When I look at your baseball card, / I see the back yard/ of the house I grew up in, / where hubcaps bloomed / beside Black-eyed Susans. / I see myself / sitting at a round, burgundy / spray-painted wooden table, / slurping a glass of iced tea / as I read and memorize / the names of ballplayers / and the various cities and towns / they hail from. For instance / Razor is your middle name. / Durham, North Carolina, / intrigued me: it was / somewhere and something different / from what I knew; / hundreds of miles away / from the constant yelling, / screaming, kicking, and punching; / from the rubber boots, pumps, / and knives the adults / in my family hurled / at each other / as well as me. Your name; / your career in The Show; / your time as a Montreal Expo / became a hope / that I could make / a different reality / for myself; that / ... / things would work out. / And I am grateful / to have this card, / this marvelous window, / where I can still see and hear / some chickadees, perched / on a clothesline; their gold chatter / cracking a concrete patio." This is poetry. Yearning. For real. A most highly recommended collection.