BASEBALL IN THE BACKGROUND

I do not watch baseball
regularly on TV anymore.
It takes up entirely too much time.
I’d rather listen to the games on the radio
while doing other things at my desk.
Only when the announcer’s voice rises,
in a crucial situation like
a home run or a walk-off hit,
do I turn on the radio,
as if expecting an instant replay,
a home run or a walk-off hit.
The Muzak of ordinary ball and strike calls
lulls me into the soft-gauze memories of childhood.
where I made spectacular catches,
now highlights in my mind’s eye.
The pastoral pace of baseball
may be out of place in the IPad world,
but the comforting hum of the radio broadcast
still connects me to a time long ago
when all my bats were still in the future
and the outfield grass rolled out for miles.