by Aaron Sandberg
Where were we
.   when we began to see
most of these men
.   were half our age
and that any dream we had here
.   was mud-caked and attic-packed?
It’s all small ball now—
.   little victories, fundamentals.
Good knees. Pension plans.
.   Cold beer. Shaded stands.
A sacrifice bunt sets up
.   a suicide squeeze.
A body learns a lifetime
.   of committing toward the base,
of being waved again and again
.   toward home.
Winning is remembering
.   neither team escapes the fate
of swirling dust kicked up
.   from the slide into the plate
no matter how far they pull
.   their caps down over their eyes,
nor how the ump
.   will call the play.
Aaron Sandberg has appeared or is forthcoming in Asimov’s, No Contact, Alien Magazine, The Shore, The Offing, Sporklet, Burningword Journal and elsewhere. A multiple Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, you can see him—and his poetry posts—on Instagram @aarondsandberg.