WE NEED OUR HEROES

Because we lead lives of little consequence,
because time has thrown us into a
maelstrom of stress and anxiety,
because our reality bears
no relationship to our dreams,
we need our heroes front and center.
A rookie’s towering blast,
a pitcher’s string of zeroes,
a third baseman’s spear of a line drive –
all heroic feats of baseball’s near perfection that
enables us to soar above our own humdrum lives.
The daily slog,
the demanding boss,
the annoying in-law,
wait, please give me the box score
so I can mingle among my idols on green fields,
and pretend for an afternoon or evening
that my own life has some grains of grandeur,
linking me to a level I will never reach.