• • •
Today when the boys went out to play ball,
they found a baby doe asleep on the diamond.
She was small, but not malnourished- they only
had to be concerned with where its mother was.
they found a baby doe asleep on the diamond.
She was small, but not malnourished- they only
had to be concerned with where its mother was.
The third and second basemen ran into the woods,
wondering what to say to the mother if they
found her. Second would say, “I love you”
and third would say “I need you,” mimicking what
they say to their mothers at home.
The pitcher placed his mitt under her head,
and the batters built a house for her out
of their bats. They didn’t know exactly what
deer needed to live, but they loved it when
their mothers tucked them in.
The first baseman told it a stormy but
since he brought no books to play ball, he
had to recite one from memory. He kept
losing the plot and wondered how his mother
used to do this every night.
The mother came back to her baby sleeping
surrounded by boys in undirtied baseball
uniforms, She didn’t know what
they had done,
but she noticed the makeshift
shelter around
her child.
She wondered whose babies these
were,
and who had taught them to care.
• • •
Abby Thatcher is a midwestern poet who only cares about the rodent order infesting her hometown. @stabbylane on Instagram.
