OPENING DAY

By Terry Downes

Gazing on emerald to players they shout;
All then are favorites, none that day a lout;
New bunting billows its red, white and blue
Fans for the home team are rooting anew.

Run up the pole the flag to salute
From widest eyed child to oldest galoot;
The anthem when sung with gusto and style
Brings to the faithful a tear and a smile.

Right down the roster the names are called out,
Every man’s intro will trigger a shout;
When after the cheering for one and for all
The umpire steps up to holler “Play ball!”

Catcher to second and then ‘round the horn
Into the dugout the practice ball worn;
Blue suit to pitcher the game ball is passed –
The season in earnest has started at last!

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Terry Downes is an attorney and retired District Court Clerk/Magistrate who went on to found and direct the MCC Program on Homeland Security, and long served as an adjunct professor at Suffolk Univ. Law School and UMASS-Lowell. He lives in Lowell with his wife Atty. Annie O’Connor.

This is the second in a series of nine poems about baseball (nine, like in nine innings of a game, or nine players on the field, etc.) which will appear on the first Friday of each month through the baseball season. Here are the previously posted poems in this series:

March – Spring Training