CARDBOARD FANS

It doesn’t matter
that there are cardboard fans
in the stands,
that crowd noises are
pumped through the P.A. system,
that players revolve in and out
like they’re on some carousel.
Baseball is back!
It doesn’t matter
that I don’t recognize
half the players,
that the season has been
reduced to sixty games,
that many players have been felled
by the pandemic.
Baseball is back!
While our country seems off-kilter,
like a Coney Island Tilt-A-Whirl,
baseball has been returned to us
and we are humble for the gift,
a ticket to watch our TV heroes,
excited to enjoy the ride.