Thursday, March 29, 2012

Poetry - Fantasy Baseball



I was driving back to work from lunch recently and saw a homeless woman on the street enjoying her own game of fantasy baseball...

Fantasy Baseball

Singing in my car, waiting on a traffic light
I see a homeless woman pushing a grocery cart filled with her life
Torn pants that stop just under her knee
Resting above layers of holy socks pulled up as high as they can stretch
Dirty sweater pulled over mismatched rag of another sweater
Rain poncho fashioned from a black trash bag with strategic holes for her arms
My eyes widen as I watch her begin to dance in the rain
Sun-ravaged face aged well beyond her years
Old combat boots that suddenly move like light ballerina slippers
She dances, leaping and twirling on her toes
Stopping for a moment to take aim she transforms into a ballplayer
and throws an imaginary baseball into the outfield!
Kicking up her back leg she keeps her balance
The twirling starts again as she warms up for the next play by wildly swinging her arms
This time she is at home plate, readying her invisible bat
She hunches her suddenly nimble body down and expression is serious
The imaginary pitch comes and BOOM!
She swings and it’s a hit!
She holds her hands above her eyes to see how far the ball has traveled
She smiles for a moment, turns and continues pushing her cart down the sidewalk
The traffic light turns green and we both move on.

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