Ghost Runners

Ghost Runners

Stephen Windham

It’s the umpteenth inning of our sandlot game,
and guys are drifting away – moms beckon,
some leave from boredom or have new ideas
for how to use what light remains.
The sides are fixed – we won’t choose up again.
Positions can be shifted, bases covered,
but the batting order is inviolate,
and so we call up ghost runners
to pinch run for the departed.
 
Batters stand in, take their hacks.
One reaches with a double and is still on base
when a vacant slot in the order comes up
and the runner is called in to pinch hit.
“Ghost runner on second!” he yells,
and leaves the bag to the phantom,
who takes a conservative lead,
his progress governed by ghost runner rules:
He advances only when forced,
and only to the next open bag.
 
Another double to right
moves the ghost runner to third,
but the batter stretches it to a triple,
sending the ghost runner sprinting for home.
A perfect strike to the plate
caught before the batter reaches third,
forces the ghost runner – yer out!
 
And so in the failing light it goes,
kids and ghosts wheel around the base paths,
anything to get in some extra innings,
until too many defections
finally leave the living outnumbered,
the night undeniable,
and we call it a game, at last.

Stephen Windham spent most of his adult life in Atlanta rooting for the Braves, but last year moved to Athens, GA. He has published poetry previously in The Snake Nation Review, Poetry East, The Atlanta Review and other publications.

Dominick Porto is an up-and-coming creative out of Rochester, NY. Combining his studies in Communication at the University of Mount Saint Vincent and his love for the creative process, he works as the Marketing Coordinator of Elevate, a fitness club in Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts District. In his spare time, he refines his design, illustration, and photography skills with personal projects. One common theme of these projects is baseball, a sport that Dominick played through college. He looks forward to future work and collaborations that share his appreciation for art with the public. 

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