Poem in progress – a cento for Yogi

Déjà Vu
a cento i.m. Lawrence Peter ‘Yogi’ Berra 

It gets late early out there. It’s
déjà vu all over again.
We have deep depth. He’s amphibious.
If the world were perfect,
it wouldn’t be.

When you come to a fork in the road,
(What time is it? You mean now?) take it.
Pair up in threes. It ain’t the heat,
it’s the humility. (Take it).

Ninety percent of this game
is mental, the other half
is physical. A nickel
ain’t worth a dime anymore.
Little things are big.

You can observe a lot
by watching.We made
too many wrong mistakes.
If you can’t imitate him,
don’t copy him.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Nobody goes there anymore.
It’s too crowded. It was impossible
to get a conversation going,
everybody
was talking too much.

Thank you for making this day
necessary. You wouldn’t have won
if we’d beaten you. If people
don’t want to come to the ballpark
how are you going to stop them?

I looked like this when I was young,
and I still do. I really didn’t
say everything I said. Half the lies
they tell about me
aren’t true.

I knew the record would stand
until it was broken.
So I’m ugly. So what? I never
saw anyone hit with his face.
Why buy good luggage,
you only use it when you travel?

I usually take a two-hour nap
from one to four. If you don’t know
where you’re going, you might not get there.
Always go to other people’s funerals;
otherwise they won’t go to yours.

It gets late early out there.
(Déjà vu. Take it.)
It gets late early out there.