Poetry Month: For the Love of Baseball 28 of 30

Game day
I can still hear Grandma
pacing in the kitchen
as she washes the plates clean
after the last innings
of dinner.

The Big Red Machine
on the radio,
Marty and Joe banter
sharing the play by play.
She listens
talking back to the radio.
The box blares
static between statements,
but she still catches every word.

My sweet
mild mannered grandma
who feeds the birds,
makes us pancakes,
takes us on picnics,
and smiles when
we slide home from the creek
covered in mud,

My loving grandma
isn't so mild mannered
when Johnny Bench
isn't moving fast enough,
when Pete Rose
isn't hitting,
when Griffey misses
a fly ball.

She isn't going to be happy
until she hears them say,
"and this one
belongs to the Reds."

© Cathy L. Mere, 2015

This week the Reds honored the 1990 World Championship team and the notorious Nasty Boys with a celebration.  The rain delay probably gave the celebration more coverage than it would have received. As I watched the celebration, I remembered my grandma and her love of the Reds.  She cheered on the 1990 team, but I will always think of her as a fan of the Big Red Machine.  We would stay with her for a week each summer, and on game night she'd be in the kitchen pacing and yelling calls to the Reds.  Sometimes I was sure she should replace Sparky Anderson.  She loved the game.

It's April and National Poetry Month.  I'm writing a poem every day to help celebrate!  Thanks to Margaret Simon, Leigh Anne Eck, Michelle Haseltine, Linda Baie, Julieanne Harmatz, and Kevin Hodgson for giving the final push.  We are linking using the hashtag #digipoetry.  I have to also thank my everyday poetry mentors Mary Lee Hahn & Amy Ludwig Vanderwater.  They continually inspire me.  You'll find more poetry on the sidebar. 

It's also Tuesday so I'm joining the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers.