Two boys uncoached are tossing a poem together,
Overhand, underhand, backhand, sleight of hand, everyhand,
Teasing with attitudes, latitudes, interludes, altitudes,
High, make him fly off the ground for it, low, make him stoop,
Make him scoop it up, make him as-almost-as possible miss it,
Fast, let him sting from it, now, now fool him slowly,
Anything, everything tricky, risky, nonchalant,
Anything under the sun to outwit the prosy,
If we imagine that that a poem needs to be a ball in a game of catch between the poet and the reader, then the poet should pitch the poem as to have the reader catch it in a different way every time he reads it.  The poet does this in order to challenge the reader and create a deeper level of interest.  This particular excerpt of the poem describes how a poet-reader relationship should be, in regards to a game of catch.  If we take a closer look at the poem, when the poem reads, “Make him as-almost-as possible miss it,” “It” refers to the meaning of the poem that the poet conveys to the reader. Every time the reader reads the poem, he should find another meaning that he/she did not see the first read.  This feeling that this idea gives can be related to the feeling that a catcher of a ball might get when diving and just barely catching a high fly ball.
Catch