My last Cubs poem was written very late into the night following that most infamous and regrettable of games that we would love to forget; but unfortunately gets woven in the fiery depths of our tortured Cubs fabric.

I do not believe in jinxes, other than human mismanagement - which too many Cubs teams have been "over blessed" with for far too many seasons.

In the "Hope Springs Eternal" optimism of Opening Day 2008,  I am sharing a poem that I dedicated to my Mom, who died in early July 2003, before the Cubbies clinched their Central Division Championship.

Perhaps my 2008 Cubbies poem will be written very late into October with Mom permanently grinning her beaming Cubbie Blue smile - forever and ever!  Amen!

 [Note by hellfreezesoverwaittillnextyear, 03/31/08 8:09 PM CDT ](Poem Follows)

 The Fifteenth of October, Twenty-O-Three

An Autumn-Spring twilight on Chicago’s Northside,
	Marked the end of an era, a long Summer’s ride.
A Prior engagement Wood just have to wait,
	To silence the echoes of Half a Century plus Eight.
Ten-Fifteen-O-Three had finally arrived!	

	To lay to rest the ghosts where Wrigley Field survived;
	To exorcise the demons of Eight in the Eighth;
	To call on the Diehards to just keep the Faith;
	To quench the Thirsty Confines;
	To end the endless drought;
	To squeeze hard the hardball;
	To end the final out…
To play more Mid-October baseball---the Cubbies Millennium at last!

From Forty-Five to Sixty-Nine,
	Eighty-Four to Eighty-Nine;
		Forgotten memories of O-Eight
To long lost thrills of Ninety-Eight:
	The Fifteenth of October, Twenty-O-Three.

Next Year Nearly erased... 
	By leather and Wood,
		The Cubbie Blue Angels,
			And the Dusty Engine that Could!

© 2003; Genetic Cubs Fan Press; Bolingbrook, IL 60440
Written by a Genetic Cubs Fan-HellFreezesOverWaitTillNextYear

Dedicated to my Mom, Florence - a Cubbie Blue Angel and Diehard Cubs Fan