Baseball and the Rangers

This is a sad poem that deals with the unexpected death of a long time friend.

Baseball and the Rangers

I’ll never forget you,
though I wish I could.

Forgetting would mean
I wouldn’t think sometimes
about how your mother screamed and cried
and how it echoed down the street
the day she got the call
they found you OD’d.

Forgetting you would mean I could forget
just how much you loved baseball as a kid.
You were always
collecting and trading and swapping
cards with everybody else.
That was 17 years ago,
You’d think by now
I wouldn’t still remember
Ken Griffey Junior was your favorite.

Last night I dreamed about you,
you were talking baseball.
Told me you were trying out for the Texas Rangers.
I was so happy for you.
Until I woke up,
and realized you never did play baseball -
somehow your dreams replaced
by an eight ball.

You know, I don’t really want to forget you.
I just really wish you were still here.
Wish I could flip on the TV
and see you playing baseball with the Rangers.