Bleachers

They say there’s no crying in baseball,

but tonight I almost broke the rules

during the 7th inning stretch

because we weren’t stretching our legs,

but rather our arms

around each other.

Touching.

Yes, touching.

Swaying.

Singing.

Taking in maskless breaths

and the pink sunset over the scoreboard

at Wrigley Field.

Take me out to the ballgame,

take me out to the crowd.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a crowd.

The song carried through the stadium,

a sweet cacophony of voices,

a harmonic cry of freedom.

I smiled

and belted out singing

and my heart swelled

knowing two things for certain:

life is better

with vaccines

and baseball.