Guardians of Atlanta 3
(The Baseball Game)

The old blue back-door swung open,
Into the Joneses’ farmhouse.
Cyrus looked into the kitchen,
There was no one about.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared,
As her soaked and shivering form-
Stepped inside and dripped to the floor,
Hoping to get warm.

Reed: “Cyrus?” Came a voice from the other room.
“Is that you, darlin’?” he said

A dirty-looking man walked in from the kitchen
With a Braves cap on his head.
He wore a red flannel shirt
with blue overalls on top.
And the car part he’d been carrying
He quickly did drop.
For the sight of his daughter crying
Was alarming indeed.
He hugged his crying tweenage girl,
As they slipped down to their knees.

Reed: “Cyrus what’s the matter?
I thought you were at Connor’s game!”

At the game’s mention,
The weather grew less tame.
As Cyrus coughed and spluttered,
The rain grew more intense.
Reed took her aside into the living room,
And quietly let her vent.
Once she had released
The bulk of her inner turmoil,
She looked up at her Dad,
And anger at herself roiled.

Cyrus: “Dad, I ruined the game!
I was sitting in the dugout,
next to Connor like Coach McFarland lets me,
and I tried…” She began to pout.
“It was stupid but I tried to hold his hand.
And as soon as I did,
he had to go get ready to bat
and…” Cyrus closed her eyelids.
I couldn’t help it! I started crying…”

Cyrus lost it again.
Reed stroked his daughter’s hair,
“They lost the game when
It was called due to weather,
They were in the 9th down by 4.
But they had the bases loaded and Connor on deck,”
Now Reed saw what she was crying for.

Reed: “And the rain was your fault, Cyrus?”

Cyrus: “Are you kidding? Of course, it was!”

Reed took a moment to process it all,
And they relaxed during that pause.

Reed: “I’m sorry, Cyrus. But you can’t let
This keep you from living your life.
I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again,
You don’t have to keep secrets and lie.
You can tell Connor
About your gift, if you want.”

Cyrus: “There’s no way he’d believe me, Daddy!
That was always her response.
“Why did God give me this gift?!
Why’d he send that stupid Angel to you?”

Reed saw the pain in his daughter’s face,
But even then he knew,
He had to balance his firmness
And comfort in his reply.

Reed: “God made you the way he made you.
He gave you control over the sky.
And it won’t do nothin’ but hurt you to be
cursin’ his messenger on high.
I know things are hard for you.
Harder than most girls in fact.
But it will get better, Cyrus.
God’s Angel promised us that.”

Cyrus sighed and curled up
Into her Daddy’s arms,
And the raindrops lightened into a sprinkle
As they stayed safe and warm,
Inside their beautiful farmhouse,
And there was no more need for talk.
Just the tapping of the rain,
And the ticking of the clock.

Hi I’m Joshua, and I’m resurrecting Epic Poetry for modern nerds like you! If you’d like to support what I’m doing, you can buy Cyclone Jones: The Long Summer, eBook, Audiobook, and other formats here! (Coming Soon!)

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