Wearing My Father’s Mitt

By Joseph A. Chelius

“A Trapper Model”
 
Without his knowing I wore it that spring
while playing the outfield—
my father’s lefthander’s first baseman’s mitt
I’d found buried among rollers and paint cans
under the workbench in the cellar,
mending the laces with knotted twine.
On the wrong hand it felt clumsy,
but when the ball would come my way
I’d drift under it and catch
aslant—a minor skill I’d developed
as if imagining he’d stop by the field
in the middle of a workday to watch for a while,
his hands shifting on the handle of his briefcase
before he nodded approval and turned away.
That his seeing me with his glove—
which had grown soft and pliant—
might loosen his stance, even ease
the tension that filled the kitchen
when he returned from the high school
with its faculty and students,
that undermining superintendent, steam
from our plates rising as we ate.
That I’d recover from out in left field
my father as a boy
on the sandlot greens of Yeadon, Pennsylvania,
his body lithe and unfettered—
scooping throws around the first base bag.

Joseph A. Chelius works as a senior copy editor at a healthcare communications agency in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He has a BA in English from LaSalle University and an MA in Creative Writing from Temple University. He has had two poetry chapbooks published with Pudding House: Taking Pitches and Row House Yards.

Jeff Brain is a retired public school teacher. You can find more of his art on his website or on Instagram.

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