Down the Line and on the Edge: Poetry Saturday

There’s no mystery

to the ball hit to the gap in right centerfield.

So much room for error.  So many

ways it could have been a hit anyway and otherwise.

It’s the tailing ball

down the line that sprays up chalk

that makes a difference.

It could so easily have been

elsewise:

A forgotten foul ball.

Equally forgettable, a mundane double.

 

But to hit it down the line and play

on the edge.  Just barely in bounds.

To invest that edge with the consequence it deserves.

That’s the stuff.

–Alex Joyner