OLD MEN PLAYING BASEBALL *

I thought I would enjoy watching
the Met’s Old Timer’s Game today.
with players I remember well –
Reyes, Piazza, Gooden, Strawberry, and
Lee Mazzilli who went to my high school.
I wanted to see who looked healthy and
who should consider a retirement community.
But when the game started I just saw old men
painfully playing a game in the past tense,
trying to regain the glory of the bygone years.
They moved slowly, threw softly
as if each step or toss was an effort.
It made me sad to see what age
had done to these gifted athletes.
(How many wannabees actually
become major league ballplayers?)
I quickly understood I may not have been
reminiscing about these players
as much as I realized my own decline.
The old men playing baseball were me.