Rob S. Friedman
October 2024
The Star-Spangled Banner
Yankee stadium rises en masse as Robert Merrill strides toward home plate. It’s Opening Day.
Merrill wanders alone in the dark outside his home. The anthem surrounds him like fog.
Outside the room where his son and friends gather, one muffles the Stratocaster aping Hendrix’s Woodstock national anthem.
Bob gazes at four bongs reeking on a shelf. The boys are too stoned to rise to the anthem. His silence menaces.
Old Yankees fans beam when they hear the national anthem and see, behind their eyes, Robert Merrill in pinstripes.
Rob S. Friedman 