come on down to the Mermaid Cafe

            brushback pitch


we should be better than this
i should be better than this
but tonight i don’t believe


should i put it in baseball terms?
	is that all-american enough?


right now the bases are loaded at the bottom of the 9th
with two strikes
the score is 5-4


i stand, bat up
	i stand, batter up
the throw is wild
	but controlled
	a brushback pitch, i’m told
		so close i can smell the leather
		so close my skin bears the marks of its stitching
	i jump
		trying for bodily safety


THREE STRIKES YOU’RE OUT
	
it’s as easy as that 
	i flinched 	
			game over