STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

I am a stranger in a strange land.
The strange land is my own country.
People on the street look strangely at me.
They say, “You like what sport?
What are you? Un-American?”
I hang my head in mock shame.
Even though I was raised by
Little League and Pop Warner,
my heart now lies somewhere else.
I have discovered the “beautiful sport,”
as the Italians say.
Soccer may not be as fast as
basketball and hockey,
and in this country does not have
the deep tradition and reputation of baseball,
but how wrong can I be if 330 million people
watched worldwide as Portugal defeated France
today in the 2016 Euro Cup?
No one can imagine such a viewing public
for even for a seventh game of a World Series.
I may be a stranger in a strange land,
but I have a lot of company on the planet.