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no-night stand
we met at a minor-league baseball game
she was there with someone else
but not really there,
if you know what I mean
I mean, he wasn’t much to write home about,
and she didn’t write home much anyway
so we chatted, like people do
I peppered the night with one-liners
made fun of the guy she was with
because I didn’t have a lunch box to hit her with
like I would’ve done if we’d been kids
by the time we reached the post-game pub
I’d fallen completely in love, like people do
we sat talking at one of those
small round tables
that make things either uncomfortable or intimate
some people are just easy to talk to
interested in what you have to say
not just waiting for their chance
we didn’t dance or walk in the moonlight
or discover the same favorite song,
it was just a long conversation
touching past, present and future
because there wouldn’t be a second
eventually it was time to go home
like many tragic love affairs
this one ended abruptly
not with poison or the blade
but with a debit card and a
“nice to meet you”
unlike many tragic love affairs
this one was experienced
by only one of the people involved
I like this poem…some people are interested in what you have to say not just waiting their chance..and that is fairly unusual isn’t it? Insightful tender and whimsical poem.Well done.
Thanks very much. I appreciate your comments.
Hi, Jason. Ouch…the sting of unrequited love. “no-night stand” captures it well. I’ll be back. And I invite you to discover my poems at http://www.gregoconnell.com (Find NaPoWriMo 2010 in the top menu bar). Cheers, Greg =)
Thanks, Greg. I’ll definitely check out your work. All the best.
I am really, really crazy passionate about baseball and got my ex-partner into it. When we separated and it was clear that divorce was imminent, I was so devastated that I couldn’t watch baseball for a season. Your poem reminds me of that for some reason. I’m not sure if you just intended it just to be a back drop, but I guess, thinking as a fan, it’s amazing the way baseball is just there tied to love, and I can’t even understand why.
Thanks, Chanda. It’s always such a pleasure to learn about other people’s readings of a poem.
Rings a bell. Can’t quite place it.
@Jeff: Hah! I like building stories like these on real settings, even if the events are fictionalized. It’s easier than dreaming up the circumstances.
Jason,
Nice and so sad and bittersweet.
Pamela
Thank you, Pamela.