Ex-basketball player
By John Updike
Pearl Avenue runs past the high-school lot,
Bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off
Before it has a chance to go two blocks,
At Colonel McComsky Plaza. Berth’s Garage
Is on the corner facing west, and there,
Most days, you'll find Flick Webb, who helps Berth out.
Flick stands tall among the idiot pumps—
Five on a side, the old bubble-head style,
Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low.
One’s nostrils are two S’s, and his eyes
An E and O. And one is squat, without
A head at all—more of a football type.
Once Flick played for the high-school team, the Wizards.
He was good: in fact, the best. In ’46
He bucketed three hundred ninety points,
A county record still. The ball loved Flick.
I saw him rack up thirty-eight or forty
In one home game. His hands were like wild birds.
He never learned a trade, he just sells gas,
Checks oil, and changes flats. Once in a while,
As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube,
But most of us remember anyway.
His hands are fine and nervous on the lug wrench.
It makes no difference to the lug wrench, though.
Off work, he hangs around Mae’s Luncheonette.
Grease-gray and kind of oiled, he plays pinball,
Smokes those thin cigars, nurses lemon phosphates.
Flick seldom says a word to Mae, just nods
Beyond her face toward bright applauding tiers
Of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads.
John Updike, “Ex-Basketball Player” from Collected Poems 1953-1993. Copyright © 1993 by John Updike. Reprinted with the permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Source: Collected Poems 1953-1993 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)
Pearl Avenue runs past the high-school lot,
Bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off
Before it has a chance to go two blocks,
At Colonel McComsky Plaza. Berth’s Garage
Is on the corner facing west, and there,
Most days, you'll find Flick Webb, who helps Berth out.
Flick stands tall among the idiot pumps—
Five on a side, the old bubble-head style,
Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low.
One’s nostrils are two S’s, and his eyes
An E and O. And one is squat, without
A head at all—more of a football type.
Once Flick played for the high-school team, the Wizards.
He was good: in fact, the best. In ’46
He bucketed three hundred ninety points,
A county record still. The ball loved Flick.
I saw him rack up thirty-eight or forty
In one home game. His hands were like wild birds.
He never learned a trade, he just sells gas,
Checks oil, and changes flats. Once in a while,
As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube,
But most of us remember anyway.
His hands are fine and nervous on the lug wrench.
It makes no difference to the lug wrench, though.
Off work, he hangs around Mae’s Luncheonette.
Grease-gray and kind of oiled, he plays pinball,
Smokes those thin cigars, nurses lemon phosphates.
Flick seldom says a word to Mae, just nods
Beyond her face toward bright applauding tiers
Of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads.
John Updike, “Ex-Basketball Player” from Collected Poems 1953-1993. Copyright © 1993 by John Updike. Reprinted with the permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Source: Collected Poems 1953-1993 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)
Questions
1. Show evidence that tells us how Flick spends his time.
2. Show evidence about Flick's past and how he feels about it.
3. In stanza 2, what words show how Updike personifies the gas pumps. What is the significance of this?
4. In line 16, still dealing with personification, the author states, "The ball loved Flick." Then in line 24, we are told that the lug wrench is indifferent to Flick. Explain why these details are important.
5. Look at the description of Pearl Avenue. Explain how the description could be a metaphor of his life.
1. Show evidence that tells us how Flick spends his time.
2. Show evidence about Flick's past and how he feels about it.
3. In stanza 2, what words show how Updike personifies the gas pumps. What is the significance of this?
4. In line 16, still dealing with personification, the author states, "The ball loved Flick." Then in line 24, we are told that the lug wrench is indifferent to Flick. Explain why these details are important.
5. Look at the description of Pearl Avenue. Explain how the description could be a metaphor of his life.
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Questions
1. What is the theme of "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen? How is the theme similar to "Ex-Basketball Player"?
2. How do the title of the song and poem reflect what each are saying? Would the poem be different if it was entitled "Gas-Station Attendent" or "Flick Webb"?
3. How are the narrators of the poem and song different? How do each feel about the past?
4. Do you think there are lots of Flick Webbs in the world or those that fall back on the "Glory Days"? Explain.
1. What is the theme of "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen? How is the theme similar to "Ex-Basketball Player"?
2. How do the title of the song and poem reflect what each are saying? Would the poem be different if it was entitled "Gas-Station Attendent" or "Flick Webb"?
3. How are the narrators of the poem and song different? How do each feel about the past?
4. Do you think there are lots of Flick Webbs in the world or those that fall back on the "Glory Days"? Explain.
