How to Spit in Little League Baseball

How to Spit in Little League Baseball

By Karen J. Weyant

Too young for tobacco, they chew gum or suck
on hard butterscotch candy. Sometimes,
 
they just resort to old fashioned phlegm,
snorting, gurgling in back of their throats, until
 
they have worked up a wad professional players
would be proud of. But mostly they love
 
sunflower seeds that come in all flavors:
Dill pickle, Chili Pepper, Jalapeno Hot Salsa.
 
They suck on them, learn to crack them open
with their teeth, pull the seeds from their hulls, spit
 
so that dugouts, base lines and outfields are littered
with shells. They trade flavors, rate their favorites.
 
There are only a few rules. Never spit at each other.
Never spit at the opposing team players.
 
Never spit at a coach. And never, ever spit at the umpires.
Even when you hate what they have to say.

Karen J. Weyant is a poet and essayist who lives in Warren, Pennsylvania. While she writes about many subjects, her baseball poems have appeared in Hobart, Spitball, and Sheila-Na-Gig. A lover of all Underdogs, she is a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.

Jason David Córdova lives in Puerto Rico as an illustrator and painter. Some of his art can be seen on Instagram at @jasoni72

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