Bleachers Painted Red

Bleachers painted red, as heroes take the field;

Hope carried through April to the fall—

From spring training until the season’s end.

New faces blend with old favorites,

As freshmen fill the shoes of a cities idols.

The crowd roars with each pitch,

As players creep from their winter homes—

The redbirds stretch their wings

After the long flight home.

A familiar face, lost before opening day

Is replaced with the young arms,

Fearless of the battles to come.

They are aided along the way

By players who became legends in October.

Injuries take their tolls, breaking minds

But never dampening souls.

The dog days of summer take over

And the wistfulness of last fall’s championship

Becomes a distant memory.

But as the leaves stain red to match a nation

The playoffs come again—

September magic a familiar friend.

One game, so it all becomes—

One game to live or die.

Players sit calmly on the bench,

Knowing what it is to preserver.

For on this October night

Bravery is not enough—

The redbirds are headed home again,

To defend the crown, rightfully theirs.

A single strike from defeat,

A pitch away from the season’s end—

They amaze a nation once again

They live another day.

But the bats grow cold as frustration mounts,

They are David against the Giants—

This year

There will be no parade in St Louis,

No championship rings to adorn fingers.

But on a silent October morning,

When last night is a memory more distant

Than victory the year before,

Heroes return home, to lick their wounds

And prepare once again

For the Championship they deserve.

DannYetman

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com