Time Capsule

An errant baseball lying

Among the fallen apples

Of an overhanging tree

In hand has become a tactile

Time capsule bursting

With innocence and memory.

Baseball was summer

And sandlots, favorite bats

And big league teams,

Whiffle balls, heroic stars.

The town had Old Timer baseball,

Ages eight to fourteen,

And the Delta Blues,

A semi-pro, B League team

With games held at night,

“Under the lights”.

Foul balls into the neighboring

Small zoo would startle

The peacocks into alarm

And calls of “Help! Help!”

I knew a girl then already

Arriving at a philosophy of life,

While I wondered only

At the best care

Of a leather glove.