Its come down to this: empty
major league baseball stands
while the game goes on below,
except for the one skeleton
sitting in Field Box 54, wolfing
down a hot dog whole, tossing peanuts
into its open jaw.
The hot dog bun perfectly preserved
and the pristine peanut shells
scattering past the skeleton’s severed
spinal chord.
The lonely announcer
can’t believe his eyes. “It appears
to be enjoying the game!” he says.
And why not? The whole stadium
to itself, Orioles against
the White Sox, nothing to worry about,
though it still remembers
the gelid badge pressed to its ear
and the godforsaken fear.
Alejandro Escudé published his first full-length collection of poems, My Earthbound Eye, in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches high school English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
