CALM Publishing

THEY ROSE IN UNISON

 

They rose in unison

To cheer the contact

A pitch at 99 and diving

A swing graceful and compact

Taking a bat head through the plane

That a sinking fastball

Would carve in space

While compensating for

The strained wrist and left quad

The ache of last night’s bed

And the pressure of the press

Always playing up your bad points

And taking for granted the gifts

While all around you is youth

Kids in the stands

Stares from the teens

Who want your stats

Admiring glances from bashful girls

And lascivious winks from

Thirty something freaks

Who dot the audience

And strut their obedience

If ever called upon

To opine on the feats

Of the athlete upon whom she feasts

         A snarl of independence

         And the obsequious smirk

         Are not contradictory

         They are bookends on the same shelf

         Isolated from each other

         By all the learning

         In the few books remaining

         That stand between the two.                 

                          170624.3

©Calm Publishing 2018