Last Opening Day

Last Opening Day

By Susie Aybar

The chill is still in the air
not as cool as last year
or the March before
 
Purplish buds wait on magnolia branches
yesterday, today, tomorrow
stalled ‘til the sunlight opens them
 
It’s your last opening day
you start with clean cleats, crisp pinstriped-pants
lucky thirteen on your back
 
It’s the finishing snow of winter
final carry of a baby
last grasp of a child’s hand
 
Red dirt covers you after
you slide, you dive
the field isn’t ready yet
 
Spring is still working on it
it’s full of yellow patches
the showers will green
 
The mound is uneven as you take to it
raising your left arm, weathered glove
then throwing with your right
 
Stepping towards the plate
the future waits there in front of you
the batter whiffs away time
 
You wind up again
looking ahead
the bugs are starting to bite now
 
Our backs ache, we’ve been
slouching on the cold metal bleachers
too long

Susie Aybar is Mets fan and a writer living in North Salem, NY. She received an MFA from Manhattanville College. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in FlashFlood Journal, Tiny Molecules, and Literary Mama. Her poetry has appeared in The San Pedro River Review, The London Reader, Anti-Heroin Chic, and others. She received a Pushcart Prize nomination and a Best in Microfiction nomination for her story, “Souvenirs” this year.

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

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