In order to view this poem with the line breaks the author intended, we suggest reading it on a computer screen or in landscape orientation on your phone or tablet.

Watching the ‘94 All-Star Game on YouTube

Oh to see the Kid again,
loping uhurried
over comically green Astroturf
to nab a lazy pop-up
in mid-center, sending
a sheepish Bonds back
to the dugout, Puckett
flashing his famous smile
and the “two down” sign,
years before heartbreak
or scandal and asterisks,
Junior flipping the ball
to Ripken who sends it
around the horn to Frank
Thomas at first, over to Boggs,
the whole thing simple
as pouring water from a glass,
as if they’d do this forever,
easy and endless as the Three Rivers
flowing gently past the stadium
on any summer day.

—
Graham Murtaugh is a psychotherapist based in Tacoma, WA. His work has appeared in Clarion, Dark Mountain, The Inflectionist Review, and other outlets. He is the author of the illustrated chapbook There Is No Safety (Self-Titled Press, 2013). In 2024, Graham was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

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