the smiles of yesterday

starting a new section of poetry

the smiles of yesterday


This poem --

Once

i stood silently at home
glared into his eyes -
this was it;
time to let the ball fly

one flew past, whizzing
by my over-sized years,
i stood tall like a champion,
four foot three, without fear

of bruises or losses
that were so close to me
because i was a hero
the best a boy could be

i eyed third, then
i eyed first
then another ball flew past,
second is always the worst

third time's a charm
and here it came sailing so slow,
a smile broke i know it did
i had struck gold

it flew like a rocket that i drew earlier that day,
launched into the air
into dreams and holidays

it flew away like a bird, little things in the sky
that grew smaller till
my sight could no longer fly

and last, it went sailing away,
like it was on the seven seas,
i was finally the hero
and i was proud to be me

they called foul while i called home run,
but neither they nor my teammates were happy
that the game was over and done.