Found poem

The promise of baseball in Springtime
is a modest one.
It speaks with a new green voice each year.
It says," Learn to play this game,
and it will not let you down."

And so the players pick up
where they left-off last season.
Each adds a measure of their grown bodies
to their expectations of each other
and they play the game. Practice it and play.

It is not hard to see the allure of the diamond.
It is a holiday without clocks.
The broad sweep of the infield
erases the school day. The deep roll
to the outfield corner
rolls over the rim of tomorrow.

It is a game of chance coaxed on by skill.
I think that's the hook, the challenge.
In a game (or a world)
fraught with a zillion variables that can go wrong,
can each player commit
to working towards controlling
what can be controlled by his own skills
and accept what is beyond them.

Play ball.


May 10, 2011