so a long summer
evening and soft
ball	sounds	 / promised

she driven 	
I drove	
as she could not 

arrive without
me hesitant
she prepared

game under way / overheard 
focused quiet / thwak / crack 
cheers / jeers

me / askance
more than watching 
me

the tense unknown
keeping eye on the 
all

she 
teasing mistakes / taunting / caution 
abandoned
 
and the laugh in her
(eyes? tilt? tone?) 

and the me in her
(hurt? wrong? hidden?)

where?

gone

Poem and image by Jo Mariner