The Plastic Coated Leaf

The Plastic Coated Leaf is a compilation of poems and short stories written by the author from 1969-2014. The metaphor in the title represents the iconic equipment that drew the author into the culture of organized American football and gave him access to worlds beyond his impoverished South Bronx neighborhood, but failed to protect his fragile anatomy and sensitive psyche. It is a collection of works that offers unprecedented insight into the motivations that drive athletic success, the pre-occupations that sometime interfere with optimum performance and the events and feelings that remind us, superstar athletes are also subjects of the human condition.