The Poetry Marathon 2021
June 26, 2021
Finally
All I do is drive
Searching for diamonds
Filled with dreams
Of my youth
Wishing that my son
Gets the same experience
As I did so long ago.
The pop of the glove,
The crack of the bat,
The spitting of sunflower seeds
Fill the air.
Baseball: Where diamonds are gold
And dreams of glory resonate.
Jack has played rec ball for four years
And suddenly announced,
“I want to play travel ball.”
So, I search the net,
Mark the tryout dates on the calendar,
Fuel up the car,
And soon I drive…
To Warrenton,
To Mount Vernon,
To Gainesville,
Back to Mount Vernon,
Back to Warrenton,
Anywhere that a team has a 13U tryout.
He just wants a chance to play.
Jack is a 12-year-old
Trapped in a D1 body.
He is six-feet tall
Weighing 197 pounds…
And he is still growing.
He has the power,
But he needs fine tuning.
He just needs to learn to let go
And use all of his physical gifts.
I just hope one coach sees
His raw potential and thinks,
“I can take him to the next level.”
However, most just want the best player
Who gets them closer to the league championship.
With each rejection,
Jack states,
“I want to pay against that team.”
This attitude will keep him motivated
Not only in sports but in life.
At each tryout,
I sit in the car with
Neal Schusterman, James Dickey, and
Dan Carlin who entertains me with stories.
Every now and again,
I get out and watch.
I still love the sounds of the game.
When this last tryout ends,
Jack gets in the car,
“Dad, Coach said he wants to talk to you,
So don’t leave.”
I get out and I wait
While trying not to get my hopes up.
I step away from the car.
Jack doesn’t need to hear any more bad news.
Coach and I make some small talk until he states,
“We want him. We have a spot on our B team.”
I smile, shake the coach’s hand,
And return to the car.
“They want you. You made the team.”
He exhales and his stress melts away.
His smile is the size of a slice of watermelon,
And he says,
“Finally, somebody gave me a chance.”
Yes,
Finally.