Second Baseman (cont'd)

after the war
my father married my mother
and went back to playing baseball
out where St. Dorothy's church is now
sliding into a base
his head connected
with the baseman's knee

at our leftovers lunch I ask,
"Did you know you were injured or
were you knocked out right away?"
he tells me he remembers saying,
"Be sure to get my glove"

a few years ago
the scar tissue from that old trauma
took on a new life of its own
and my father retired
stopped driving
started to walk with a cane

last Thanksgiving
my father and I
watched "Field of Dreams"
on television
we had both seen it before

you know the story -
this guy clears his cornfield
to build a baseball diamond
for Shoeless Joe Jackson
to play on
or so he thinks

but at the end
a stranger walks onto the field
his father
young enough
for everything to still be possible
and the son goes out
to have a catch
with the man
he never knew

both my father and I
were crying
neither one of us
said why