The Boys of Autumn

a September baseball game
it's over, but the team plays on
It's cold, children are back home
doing schoolwork
waiting for Sunday
and a Vikings game
the stadium's half empty
fans are restless
in the rows behind me
the chatter is of work and family
but the team plays on
bored in the seventh
hundreds start the wave
my god, after all these years, the wave
and the dome grows more plastic and sterile
and it's worse knowing the new stadium awaits
and they turn on the umpire
tonight's scapegoat
a stand-in for their frustration
for their boring spouses
for the jobs they barely endure
but Wally's bringing another round
and there's strength in numbers
and beer soothes
and they remember '91 and '87
when this cavernous shell held something
each of them, all of them
long for a thrill
anything
anything
and the team plays on