Baron Wormser - "Listening to a Baseball Game"

for Charles Baxter

The smothering heat of a July night
Squats in a second-floor bedroom
And doean't move despite the desk fan's
Peaceful whir and simulate breeze.
A boy lies on the sheets and reads
A Life magazine which holds
The proper shadow of attention
While he listens to the ballgame
Being played in Kansas City.
He sees it happen and imagines it -
The same thing really. A car swings

Down Maple Steet a hinge complains.
Moths move toward decipherable light
But are stopped by screens. The boy's done
Reading and lies there beside the lamp,
His hands folded beneath his head.
He knows that comfort is rarely pure.
He listens and lets his feeling glide
With each intent description.
He follows a probable dream
As the night sways with outcomes
In houses and rooms and far away.


Line Drives
Edited by Brooke Horvath and Tim Wiles