Opening Day Poem

After spending time in Texas with the USAF and completing school in San Marcos, I returned home to Chicago in the late Seventies at long last.  Suffering from major Cubs and Wrigley Field withdrawal, I vowed to never leave home again, and remedy my baseball fever ASAP.

I was fortunate to attend Opening Day 1980 in Wrigley.

Later that night I composed my first ever Wrigley Field/Cubs poem.  Al, I hope that you allow me to post this here to share with my favorite Cubs community.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1980/B04170CHN1980.htm

The 17th of April 19 Eight O

An Autumn-Spring sky on Chicago’s North side,

Marked the most special occasion as Opening Day.

From season to season the structure had stood,

That was called Wrigley Field – Cubs Park, just as good.

The neighborhood, East Lakeview, where the crowds had arrived

By L, bus, and auto was coming alive.

Not Mardi Gras, or Christmas, or Fourth of July,

Could match the anticipation, the bravado, the high.

Loyal fans they were called- Diehards to some

Who weathered each Winter and still they would come,

With an indomitable spirit and hopes of the day,

When ‘Wait Till Next Year’ would just fade away…

In pregame festivities the fans milled about,

Buying hotdogs and beers to help with the shouts;

For their Cubbies were heroes from early childhood days,

No matter the fact that no pennant was won.

But now the game’s starting – the perennial chance

To play Autumn-Spring baseball in October at last!

In this dreamlike sense of aura, thoughts drift to the past.

For here in the Friendly Confines, no time seems to elapse...

The young and the old, the new and the few,

All share in a time capsule which bridges the gaps

Of generations who will follow the footsteps, the tracks,

Which lead to Clark and Addison, Waveland, Sheffield, and back!

© 1980; HFOWTNY Press, Bolingbrook, IL 60440